Rocket Academy
by RosieShiba
Summary: Team Rocket have taken over and silenced anyone who complained by taking their children away and putting them in Rocket Academy. However, Dawn and her friends hold the secret to save the world but will they succeed? IS.
1. Of Life and Change

**Ok, so I was going to have a rest this week but I felt so weird not updating that I had to post this. Hurray! My new story! The first bit is just the characters and summary and stuff so feel free to skip.**

**I don't own Pokemon :(**

***Cool sound effects and confetti* Ta-dah!**

**Rocket Academy**

Characters:

Dawn – Told from her point of view

Paul

May

Drew

Ash

Misty

Gary – Leader of the guys

Leaf

Raven – A new kid. A Rocket Elite's Kid

Ascot – Raven's ex-boyfriend. A Rocket Elite's Kid

Silver – (Usually called Silver-Senpai) Son of Giovanni

Lrya – (Usually called Lyra-chan)

Wyre – Sorta mean but cool. A Rocket Elite's Kid

Celeste – Very pretty. A Rocket Elite's Kid

Rocket Elites:

Giovanni – The head of Team Rocket

Pegasus – Ascot's Father

Scorpio – Wyre's Father

Summary

Team Rocket took over the four regions five years ago. Anyone who opposed them had their children taken from them and sent to Rocket Academy where they would train to be Rockets themselves. Dawn's world is about to be turned on its head when she encounters a legendary long since disappeared, now she holds the key to hope.

* * *

**Chapter One: Of Life and Change**

It has been almost five years since Team Rocket took over the four regions and defeating the other Teams that were there. It had been a long five years for the people of the regions, full of change, resentment and fear but when it bottles right down to it only one thing changed: People.

As the majority often go, they peacefully accepted the Rocket takeover without much fight. After all, sometimes it's better to let things happen rather than fight the inevitable. It could've been harder for Rocket to take over but it could've been a whole lot worse for the civilians, a lot messier. I guess that's where things changed. The people who fought against Rocket were punished in the worst possible way.

I wish I could say that they were executed or thrown into prison or banished but in reality, these would have been humane. Instead, these people had to watch their youngest child grow up to be exactly what they hated: Rockets. Of course, there were a few exceptions. Sometimes older children would be taken if the younger were weak or, well, didn't mean that much to the family. They would always go for the ones who would punish the parents more.

The Rockets set up bases in all four regions: Saffron City, Sootopolis City, Hearthome City and lastly, Mahogany Town. The latter, I'm not sure why they picked that one. I guess it was because they already had a base there and it is pretty close to the Lake of Rage. There isn't really a proper headquarters there. Here is where they keep all the children they stole from their enemies. Cool, huh? All those children in one place? That can mean only one thing. Yeah, you guessed it. There's a pretty exclusive school here that only those taken from their parents could attend. Roughly, there's about five hundred of us here. It's not really a massive school as you can see but there is a huge mix of people from all over the place.

To be honest they were a bit uncreative with the name of the place. Rocket Academy. Yeah, that's really creative but at least it tells you exactly what we do here. We train to be Rockets, you know 'become the thing our parents hate the most'? Yeah, clever isn't it? They think so. We have no contact with our parents, mind you. They don't want to risk some sort of conspiracy.

I suppose I should really start my story from the beginning, from when the troubles started to get really bad. Usually, things went really smoothly for me but for some reason half way through my third year of Rocket Academy, it seemed to change. But that's later on in my story.

My name first of all is Dawn Hikari, aged sixteen. Like I said, I'm in the third year of the academy. I'm not really anything special in school, just your normal high school student. I'm not really that popular, actually most of the popular girls hate me. I have my own little group of friends who are just like me, I guess. We're just average.

I'm the baby of my friends, the youngest that is and you can probably tell. My favourite colour is pink. I wish I could wear it with my school uniform but it's against the rules to personalise the uniform too much. We're all drones while on the job. We're like bees in a hive, our headmaster tells us.

The eldest of us is Leaf, a hyperactive girl. She has long brown hair and greeny-blue eyes. She's really just an athletic girl who has way too much energy. She loves the physical side of the academy but is slow when it comes to the academic side of things. Leaf always makes me laugh because, frankly, she's a little insane. She finds the weirdest things funny.

Misty is the next one of us. She's got ginger hair, and when I say ginger, I mean orange. She wears it in a side ponytail which tends to stick up because it's so short. She has aqua coloured eyes which is kind of ironic since she's a water type trainer and a top class swimmer. She's a tomboy when it all boils down to it. She usually wears shorts rather than a skirt. She's allowed to for some reason. I'm not sure why though but I know it involves something to do with a mallet.

Then there is May. She's a bright girl who loves the colour red. She's a brunette with bright blue eyes. She has a long fringe that comes out in two strands which is weird to say she has really short hair at the back. To hide the shortness, she wears a black bandana which she is allowed to wear. May doesn't really like physical activities or academic studies but she does love to eat and sleep. She does both really well.

Lastly there is me with my blunette hair and blue eyes. My hair is straight and reaches my shoulders. I usually tie up a few strands to stop them from wafting in my face when I'm working. I have a plain red clip that I pin it back with. For some reason we're allowed to wear a few plain accessories as long as they're either black or red. They're the school's colours along with white but we don't really have much white usually.

The four of us live in the Nebula dormitory which houses all of the third year students, roughly 85 of us. We share a room, well actually two rooms. I share with May while Misty and Leaf share another just on the other side of the lounge/kitchen area. In all rooms there is a small kitchen and a lounge area. We're allowed to decorate ourselves. This means that May and mine's bedroom is half painted pink, half red. Likewise, in Misty and Leaf's room, Misty's half is blue while Leaf's is green. It's a thing about boundaries I think. May and mine's room is quite dark since we don't have a window. It's because our room is in the middle. The other side of the wall it the boy's zone. It was to block off the girls to the boys. None of us had seen the boy's side before. It was quite a mystery to what it looked like.

May and I were sat in our room one evening. May was eating a tub of ice cream. We were allowed to leave the campus at weekends for personal time which meant we could go and buy stuff from the shops, like ice cream. We got the money from our 'hits', but I'll explain that later. I was digging into a fruit salad as we talked. I was lying on my bed while May was sat on the floor with her back against the bed.

"Man, this is the life," May said suddenly, "Is this best school or what. Who would think you get paid for homework?"

"Is that all you care about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She nodded vigorously. I sighed as I stuck my plastic fork into a piece of watermelon.

"What is it with you and fruit, Dawn?" May asked, "You're always eating fruit."

"I just like it," I replied, "The grapes, the strawberries, the melon. I'm not too keen on oranges when they're cut up like this though."

"I could go for a strawberry," May commented.

"Get your own," I snapped, slapping her hand away as she tried to steal a strawberry from my plastic box. She giggled lightly as she sat back against the bed.

"You're so quiet," she said, "Sometimes I don't know whether to be worried or not. I never know what you're thinking."

"It's nothing worth telling you," I admitted, rubbing my head, "Usually it's just garbage. Of course, I know what you think about, May."

"What do you mean?" May asked loudly.

"Well, you do talk in your sleep," I went on. May blushed red. I laughed at her for a moment before I went back to my fruit salad. "Brendan this, Brendan that. I wish I knew what was so great about him."

"I forgot," May said grumpily, "You don't like anyone."

"That's true," I agreed.

"Even though you have Barry, Kenny and Conway chasing after you," May went on, "Can't you just pick one?"

"I don't like any of them," I said, "I want someone cool, someone strong but also kind in his own way."

"With a like for pink?" May asked.

"The pink thing isn't needed," I replied with a wink, "I'll just make him like it once we're married."

May erupted into girly laughter. After a few minutes of frantic giggles from the two of us, the door opened and Misty peered in.

"Should I ask?" she asked.

"It's nothing," May replied.

"You two should really go to bed," Misty told us, yawning, "It's almost eleven."

"That late?" May asked, "But when I looked at the clock last it was almost eight."

"You should really buy yourself a clock, May," Misty told my roommate in a stern tone, "Now hurry and go to bed."

"Fine," May said. I passed May my half full carton of fruit as she stood up to take her ice cream back into the kitchen.

"Night, Dawn," Misty said to me.

"Night, Misty," I replied. Once the red head had left the doorway I began to get changed. May returned a few minutes later, closing the door behind her. She began to change as I climbed into bed. I waited until she was in bed before I bid her good night.

For a while I laid looking up at the ceiling, wondering about pointless things. I smirked to myself before turning over and falling asleep.

**Yep, a boring chapter to begin off with. Well, it's setting the scene for the story... I guess... *cough* Anyway, updates will be... soon. Not every day updates for this I'm afraid. :( Anyway, review with your thoughts and any mistakes you see.**

**RSx**


	2. Of Lakes and School

**Thanks to splitheart1120, AnimexLuver4Ever, GracideaPiplup, xXCanaryXx and RaveOn21now22 who reviewed :) **

**This story is set in the Pokémon world :) Although, the start is a little slow so please bare with it :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

**Chapter Two: Of Lakes and School**

I woke myself up the next morning. For some reason I never really had a full night of sleep. Even with getting to sleep after eleven, I was still awake five the next morning. I stretched and got out of bed. May was still asleep in her own bed, snoring loudly. At least she wasn't talking in her sleep.

I walked over to my wardrobe and began to get dressed into my school uniform. Even though it was a little plain, I liked my uniform. It had a white blouse with either a black vest or sweatshirt over the top. The school's logo, a red 'R', was on the left side of the chest. Today was a vest day. Then there was a black, pleated, knee length skirt. We were told to wear white or black socks to our knees but the choice of colour was up to us. I chose white since the shoes were black. Finally I clipped my hair back using the plain red clip I usually wore.

I slipped out of the room, careful so I didn't wake up May. I picked up my backpack as I left my room and slung it over my shoulder. The apartment was quite, but I could still hear May snoring from the room. I walked to the front door and left the apartment.

Outside the dormitory I looked around. The sun was just beginning to rise. I watched the sky change colour for a few seconds before I set off on my usual morning walk. I really liked the area around the school. Mahogany Town was in one direction; in the other was the Lake of Rage. I decided to walk towards the lake seeing as that was the best walk.

I walked along a grassy path between trees. It was going to be a nice day, a warm day. A flock of Pidgey flew above me. I waved at them as they passed. I'm sure half the wildlife was used to me being here at this time. I stopped at the Lake and let out a sigh.

I had a usual tree which I usually sat under. It faced the lake at the perfect angle, just so that I could see the sun rising above the trees. I leant back on the tree trunk, shrugging my bag off my shoulders. I placed the bag beside me and pulled out a reading book.

I hardly knew when I began coming here in the morning, but since I had I'd read so many books. I was kind of impressed by myself. They were all library books so I didn't have to worry about buying new ones every week or so. The one I was reading at the minute was a love story about a Princess who had been taken by a Salamance to the top of a mountain where it kept her from her true love, a boy she fell in love with who worked in the palace. The Prince and the boy had just set out to rescue her. Before I opened the book I pulled a pokéball out of my bag and released my faithful friend, Piplup, so that he could swim in the lake.

"Piplup," he cried as he appeared. He immediately jumped into the water and began swimming around. He was perfectly safe swimming since there were only Magikarp in the lake.

I continued to read my book, glancing up every now and again to check on Piplup. By time seven o'clock rolled around I had finished my book. I closed it and wiped a few tears from my eyes. Piplup suddenly decided to climb out of the lake and walk over to me.

"Lup?" he asked.

"I'm OK, Piplup," I said, "It was just a very good ending."

"Lup?" Piplup said, sitting down as if he wanted me to tell him how it ended.

"Well, the Prince and the boy go to rescue the Princess but the boy is killed by Salamance," I explained, "So the Prince and Princess venture to Arceus to see if he can bring the boy back to life but Arceus says he can't, but he can let the Princess and the boy be together in his kingdom. So the Princess rises up into the sun to be with her love."

"Piplup," Piplup commented. I stood up and brushed the dirt off my skirt. I glanced at my watch and saw it was five past seven. I let out a sigh.

"Well," I said, "Mr Grumpy Pants should be arriving soon."

Not a second after I said this I saw him walking from my right. I glanced at him before I folded my arms over my chest. His purple hair was unmistakeable along with his walk. I rolled my eyes. He paused and looked over to me, but only for a second before continuing towards the lake. He sat down beside the water's edge and began to eat some kind of cereal bar.

I would usually see him by the lake at seven in the morning, but I never really understood why he went there. At first I thought it was because he went to train his Pokémon but all I ever saw him do was eat a cereal bar and read from a book. I never really talked to him either. He was kind of a cold hearted jerk. He would be mean to people, that is if he talked to them. He hardly talked to people at all.

His name was Paul, third year like me and the girls. He was top of the class and one of the popular guys. I didn't know much about him apart from his cold demeanour, although he sat quite close to the girls and me in some of the lessons. I think it was because the other girls in the class seemed to be his fangirls. I think he preferred the quiet.

Piplup dashed towards the lake and belly flopped into the waters. I put my hands to my mouth as I saw water splash Paul. It really wasn't that much water but it was enough to make the purple haired boy cast Piplup a death stare.

"Er… Sorry about that, Paul," I said, jogging up to the lake edge.

"Hn," he replied. It was the usual reply I got. I looked at Piplup.

"Hey, Piplup," I called to the blue penguin, "Shall we go and find some berries for breakfast?"

"Lup!" Piplup shouted and was almost instantly back at shore. I sweat dropped and scooped up the wet Pokémon in my arms.

"Seeya later in class," I told Paul. He nodded in reply. "Sorry again about Piplup."

"Hn."

"Bye, then," I said jogging back to my bag and picking it up. I slung it over one shoulder and went into the forest. I looked down at Piplup.

"Which berries do you want then?" I asked.

"Piiip luuup," Piplup said. I took that as 'all of them' and let out a small chuckle.

~R~

I walked towards the school building. People from the dormitories were coming in from all directions. I was glad I had decided to put Piplup back in his pokéball since there were so many people.

"Dawn!" I heard my name being called. I turned round to see the familiar face of Lyra, a fifth year and prefect. Unlike usual students she wore a scarlet coloured jacket over her blouse. It was a nice jacket. I won't to be a prefect just so I could wear a jacket like it. It had gold around the sleeves and the Logo was embossed in red and gold on the left breast. The rest of the uniform was pretty much like mine.

"Lyra-chan," I greeted her. Misty, May, Leaf and I all called her Lyra-chan because she was like our big sister. Everyone else called her Senpai and she called them Kohai. It was just something the school did.

"How are you this morning?" she asked, smiling at me.

"I'm fine thanks, Lyra-chan," I replied smiling at her, "Have you had a good morning?"

"Yep," Lyra said, "But I had a pretty weird dream. I dreamt the school had turned into a marshmallow and everyone had to eat it."

I laughed at Lyra's dream for a few seconds.

"That would make this school so much better," I said. She nodded. I saw her glance over my shoulder.

"Have a good day," she told me before she walked towards a few other prefects. I waved at her before walking into the school. Despite her being a prefect, Lyra had always looked out for the four of us. If I'm honest, I don't know all that much about Lyra apart from what I've just told you and her Pokémon team.

I walked through the large metal doors into the school hall. Lockers lined the hall, painted black with a red 'R' painted on each door. Call the headmaster sad. He liked things to be precise although this seemed over the top to me. I walked down towards my locker and pulled out my exercise book for first period.

"Hey, Dawn," I was greeted by a sparky sounding Misty.

"Hi, Misty," I said as I looked at her. I saw Leaf stood next to her with a lollipop in her mouth. "On the sugar already, Leaf?"

"Sugar's good," Leaf said loudly. Misty shook her head in despair while I smiled at Leaf.

"Where's May?" I asked, glancing towards Misty who would probably have the answer.

"With Brendan," Misty grumbled as she opened her locker, "She blew us off for that white haired freak!"

"That's just his hat you know," I told Misty while Leaf nodded quickly. Misty clicked her tongue.

"You know what I mean," Misty snapped, "He's only after one thing with May and that's someone to do his homework. He wouldn't look at her another way since he goes on and on about beauty and how things should be perfectly pretty. Bah."

Misty hated Brendan, that was no lie. His name always sounded like it was a bad taste on the tip of Misty's tongue. She was right to one respect, Brendan was all about the beautiful. I'm not saying that May was pretty because she was but in Brendan's eyes she wasn't. May had quite good grades so he tended to take advantage of that and May lapped it up, thinking it was a way to his heart.

"If he upsets her, I'll punch his face in," Misty went on, slamming her locker door shut.

"Wow," came the dry yet haughty tone of Drew Hayden from behind Misty, "Looks like someone's had their anger pills today. Anger pills or steroids."

Misty's demeanour changed instantly. She looked round at Drew and gave him a small smile. Drew, I had to admit, was a handsome guy even if he had weird green hair. He had a calming quality about him which seemed to make everyone relax around him. Apart from May that was.

"Sorry," Misty said, rubbing her head, "It's just –"

"Brendan? Yeah, well, I understand that one hundred and twenty per cent," Drew said calmly, "I'm trying to convince Gary and Paul to take a few fists to his face but neither want in on the action. Perhaps I'm asking the wrong people."

"Squish Brendan's face," Leaf commented happily, punching her hand. Drew chuckled.

"On the sugar already, Leaf?" Drew asked.

"Sugar good," Leaf replied with a nod. I sweat dropped.

"Oh, Dawn," Drew said, looking at me, "Did you see Paul down by the lake this morning?"

"Er…" I said looking between Leaf and Misty, "Yeah. Why?"

"He's not turned up yet," Drew told me, "I wondered if you'd finally snapped and thrown him in the water. It would be a shame, I would pay good money to see that. Well, so long ladies."

"Bye, Drew," Leaf and Misty sang. I just waved.

"We'll be late for class," I told them, grabbing Leaf by the wrist and dragging her away from the lockers. Misty followed us in a lighter mood than she was five minutes ago. Leaf was humming a song to herself. We walked to the first class and took up our usual seats on the back row. May wasn't there. I let out a sigh as I pointed to Leaf's chair. She sat on it, smiling happily. Misty went and sat on the other side of her.

We sat in silence for a few minutes while we each got out our books, pens and note pads. I glanced up to see Paul and Drew walking towards their seats which were beside ours. Paul sat nearest to me while Drew was on the other side of him. I was sort of relieved there was an aisle between Paul's and mine seats. I smiled at the two of them as they sat down.

"Misty and Leaf are up for flattening Brendan," Drew said to Paul, "You wanna be in on the action?"

"No," Paul snapped. He remained silent as he got out his stuff and put them neatly onto the table top. Drew copied him and then spent much of the time looking round the classroom.

"I like it back when we're in the apartment," Drew muttered, "You're much more talkative then. I suppose it's because you've got this hard guy image you have to keep up."

"Like your charming personality?" Paul asked, "What would the girls do if they found out you slept with a toy Tediursa called Mr Growl."

At this I burst out laughing. Drew looked across at me, scowling. I was amazed no one else seemed to hear the conversation. I quickly stopped giggling and pretended to read my text book. Once I felt Drew's eyes leave me, I dared to glance at Paul. He was smirking. I couldn't see Drew for the moment but it seemed that he was whispering something to Paul for the next minute Paul clipped Drew hard on the arm. Drew yelped, falling onto Gary's chair. Paul gave him a deadly look before looking forwards.

"Ow," Drew moaned, "Mr Grumpy."

"Yo, Hayden," Gary called from the front of class, "What you doing to my seat?"

"Paul punched me," Drew snapped back in return. He sat straight on his own chair as Gary walked towards him.

"There's an easy way to avoid that," Gary said in a matter of fact sort of tone, "Don't kick the hornet's nest."

"I'll remember that in the future," Drew moaned, rubbing his arm. Gary glanced at the girls on the back row.

"Hello, ladies," he said. He looked at Leaf to see she had a lolly stick in her mouth. "You let her on the sugar already? And where's Maple?"

"Sugar good!" Leaf called.

"May's with Brendan," Misty snapped, "Stupid white haired freak."

"You do know that's just a hat, right?" Gary asked, sounding quite amused.

"I KNOW IT'S JUST A HAT!" Misty yelled. I put my hands to my ears a little too late. Temporally deafened, I pulled out my reading book and began re-reading the first few pages, hoping Misty would soon calm down.

"Jeez," Gary moaned, "What's got your knickers in a twist? I mean, there's hating Brendan and then there's _hating_ Brendan."

"See, you should punch him a few times," Drew said, "Then our lovely Misty would have better blood pressure."

"If you want to hurt Brendan so much, Hayden, hurt him yourself," Gary told Drew. He shuffled into his seat on the other side of Drew and let out a loud sigh. "Yo, Paul. I didn't know you had a thing about girly romances."

I glanced up to see Paul's eyes dart from my book to Gary. Gary and Drew were laughing quite loudly at Paul's expression though I could only guess he was annoyed. However, the laughter soon died down as May walked towards us, looking quite confused to why the two boys were laughing at the third.

"You're finally here?" Misty said grumpily.

"Sorry, Brendan needed some help on some homework," May explained, as she shuffled towards her seat. "It took a little more explaining than I thought."

"What was it?" Drew asked, "How to spell cat?"

"Or if the alphabet begins with A, B and G?" Gary added.

"Which number comes after six?"

"Two times two?"

"Why doesn't the square shape go through the round hole?"

The two boys were soon rolling around on the top of their desks, laughing loudly. May gave them a deadpanned look before she sat down. She pursed her lips, trying to ignore Gary and Drew's laughter, and got out her notepad and pen. She then cast to two guys an evil glare that even Paul would have been proud of if it weren't for the fact he was reading his textbook, oblivious to his surroundings.

"Maybe he wanted to know why girls and boys are different," Leaf added in a strangely subdued voice that caused the guys to stop laughing for a split second before howling twice as loud as before.

"Or maybe how they're different," suggested Drew.

"Or why he can't wear a dress," Gary laughed. Drew slapped the table at this suggestion, a tear streaming down one cheek. Gary was wiping his eyes. Paul shut his text book with a snap. I watched him carefully over the next few seconds, not entirely sure what he was going to do. He had his eyes closed for the moment, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Suddenly he looked up, opening his eyes.

"Birch," he said. Gary and Drew stopped laughing instantly, their eyes bulging out of their sockets. Brendan, who was down near the front of the class, looked round at Paul and gladly came over to him.

"What's wrong?" Brendan asked, a hint of worry in his tone. I looked between Gary and Drew to Paul. Paul glared up at Brendan for a second before he re-opened his textbook.

"Have you seen Ketchum this morning? That annoying girl usually is trying to grope him," Paul asked. Brendan rubbed his head, nervously.

"Well, now that you mention it, I did see Melody cornering Ketchum earlier," Brendan trailed off. He glanced over to May, gave her a small smile and then retreated to his own seat, figuring that's all Paul wanted to know.

"Not funny, Paul," Drew snapped at his friend. I giggled at Drew and Gary for a second before Misty started going on about how much she hated Melody. Today was going to be a long day.

**So here's chapter two. Hope it was OK. Please review with your thoughts :)**

**RSx**


	3. Of Loathing and Nurses

**Hehe, number three! I think this is one of my favourite chapters in this fic :) It's probably the first chapter in this fic that I thought '… hmm, not bad' at so I hope it's as good as I thought. **

**Thanks to xXCanaryXx, RaveOn21now22, RAWR the Green Ranger, splitheart1120, AnimexLuver4Ever and Mednin for reviewing Chapter Two! Hopefully it gets better from here. **

**Just a quick note, this fic is centred around Dawn so there will be other pairings but they'll mot be in huge detail. No spoilers. Sorry. **

**Disclaimer: Me no own Pokémon and my OC's haven't been introduced yet… Wah! T_T**

**Chapter Three: Of Loathing and Nurses**

If I heard Brendan's name mentioned once more I was sure I was going to explode. Fortunately, by the time fifth period came around, I was finally away from May and Misty. Leaf and I were walking to our last lesson. Technically it was two, but seeing as it was a double period, everyone tended to class it as one lesson. I didn't mind the last lesson since it was science. What we studied depended on which semester we were in. Since it was the first semester we were stuck on Chemistry which was not my favourite since we had to do experiments. Usually our teacher liked to split us up into boy-girl pairs. I hated it since I usually was the one who got shifted with all the work. Brendan was in our class and the teacher had the knack of pairing the two of us up.

I sat in the middle of the class room with Leaf by my side. She looked just as enthusiastic as I did. The teacher, Mr Hyde as we all used to call him since he had a short temper and was really quite mean, was already sat at his desk waiting for us to shuffle in to the room. Once everyone was in and settled he began.

"To day we are going to do an experiment to see which would be most effective chemical to break down limestone," Mr Hyde told us in his usually cold tone, "Everything you should need is in the cupboards darted around the lab. I am going to pair you up. Please take note that this experiment will be part of your final assessment."

I groaned. Great, I would be marked on an experiment that I'm doing with an idiot who can't tell a Bunsen burner from a tripod without me telling him. I let out a sigh.

"Dawn," I heard my name being called out by Mr Hyde. Here it comes. "And Paul."

I did a double take. I glanced at Leaf who seemed just as surprised. I mouthed 'Paul' at her and she nodded. She replied by mouthing 'I know'. We waited for a few minutes until Mr Hyde had stopped talking. He then left the room so we could get on with our experiments. I glanced around for Paul, only to find he was walking towards me with Drew not far behind him.

"Looks like my lucky day," Drew said, looking towards Leaf, "I've finally got a competent partner to work with."

"You mean me?" Leaf asked, dumbfounded, "Boy, are you misled."

I looked at Paul as Drew let out a hearty chuckle. Paul quickly opened his notebook and skimmed through his notes. I decided it was a good idea and copied what he was doing.

"We need something acidic," I said to Paul, who nodded in agreement, "and probably some sort of heat?"

"Hn," Paul said with a nod.

"If we get three different acids and have them at three different concentrations, we may be able to see which one would work better," I went on, "Like mix it with water."

"Hn," Paul nodded again.

"So hydrochloric, nitrate and sulphate acids?" I asked. Paul nodded again. "You go and get the limestone and beakers. I'll get the acids, water and stuff."

I walked over to the bench where the Bunsen burners were kept along with all their accessories. Figuring it couldn't hurt to take more than one of each, I picked up two Bunsens, two tripods and two heat proof mats. I took them back to the desk and walked towards the place where Mr Hyde kept all the acids. I picked out a bottle of each acid we needed. The bottles were brown with the name written on white labels. I wondered where the school got all its acid from for a few seconds until I almost bumped into someone. I glanced up to see Ursula and Melody scowling at me.

"Sorry," I said as I tried to walk round them but the two girls blocked me off. I was pinned against the side, clutching three bottles of acid in my arms.

"Is this who I think it is, Melody?" Ursula asked in a cold drone, "Is this who Paul is working with?"

"It looks like her," Melody agreed, "She has the same horrible hair as the person who Paul is with. And those dull blue eyes. I mean ew."

"So what's your plan, Dawn?" Ursula asked, her eyes narrowing at me, "Get chummy with Paul like your loser friend is with Brendan and hope he'll fall in love with you?"

"What?" I gasped, "No, no, I'm just trying to pass this class."

"Yeah, right," Ursula snapped, "I know what you're trying to do. You think you can steal him off of me, don't you?"

"I don't want him," I told her, "You can have him."

Ursula raised an eyebrow at me, biting her lip as she smiled. Her hands wandered to the side of me but I was too busy staring into her eyes I didn't see what she was doing.

"Well," she said airily, "If you want to pass this class so badly…"

I had barely any time to move as she poured acid onto my arms. I yelped from the coldness of the liquid and the initial shock of having something thrown at me.

"Try passing it now," Ursula said. She placed the acid back onto the side and stood watching me with her hands on her hips. Melody with snickering at me. I was just about to walk away when someone grabbed my arms and dragged me over to a sink. The bottles were lifted from my grasp before my forearms were pushed underneath a cold spray of water, making me yelp once more at the cold. I looked up at the person who had grabbed me to see it was Paul. He glanced over his shoulder, glaring at Ursula.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he snapped. Ursula didn't reply. I felt a new sensation in my arms like they were on fire. I bit down on my bottom lip as the pain intensified. I shifted next to Paul trying to get more of my arms into the cold water. My arms were beginning to go a bright pink colour but that was the least of my problems for the pain exploding in my arm was almost unbearable.

"Dawn?" Leaf asked running over to me. She shrieked as she saw my arm. "I'll take you to the nurse."

"I'm fine I'll go on my own," I said with a weak smile.

"Are you sure?" Leaf asked, looking worried. I nodded but returned to biting my lip. The burning sensation in my arm was increasing. Paul let go of my arms and began to take his sweatshirt off. Leaf looked at him confused as he handed it to her.

"Soak this in water," he told her. Leaf nodded and went to a nearby tap to soak the fabric through. Paul began to gently peel my blouse sleeve up my arm. I yelped as the fabric rubbed against my already sore skin. Paul looked over his shoulder.

"Drew," he called to his friend. Drew was sat at Leaf's place, mindlessly doing some notes. He glanced up, confused. "Scissors."

Drew reached across the table and picked up some scissors that were laid there. Half thankful that he decided not to throw them, I grimaced as Drew walked towards us. His eyes widened when he saw my arms. He passed the scissors to Paul without taking his eyes off of me. Paul carefully began to cut up one sleeve. When he got to my elbow he stopped cutting and ripped the fabric off. He walked round to my other arm and did the same thing. Leaf ran over to us with Paul's soaked sweatshirt. Paul took it and wrapped up my arms in it.

"Come on," Paul ordered, pushing me towards the door. He managed to give Ursula another venomous look as we passed her. My knees suddenly began to get weak. Paul must have noticed this because the next thing I knew was one of his arms was round my waist while the other was under my knees. I blushed at being picked up. Paul muttered something about a 'troublesome girl' as we left the classroom.

My arms prickled with heat as Paul carried me to the nurse's station. He seemed to be walking quite naturally despite carrying me. I bit my lips once again.

"Stop fidgeting," Paul told me.

"It hurts!" I wailed at him. He merely rolled his eyes at me.

"Paul?" Paul didn't stop to see who had called his name. I glanced behind us to see a red head with the prefect uniform on following us. His face was neutral, almost cold in expression. I felt my face flush again. "Paul."

"Not now, Silver," Paul muttered loud enough for the prefect to hear. Silver-senpai was even scarier than Paul. It didn't surprise me to hear Paul talk to Silver like he did. Silver appeared at Paul's side, glancing over me.

"What's wrong?" Silver asked, his voice void of any emotion.

"Chemical accident," I replied quickly, "I spilt acid on myself."

"That's stupid," Silver said. I smiled nervously at him. "So why are you carrying her?"

"She's my partner," Paul replied. Silver smirked.

"So you wanted to get out of lesson?" he asked. Paul nodded slowly. "I may as well escort you to the nurse."

The three of us soon reached the nurses station. Silver held the door open for Paul to carry me into the room. I looked round the nurse's station. There were two curtains hanging from either wall, leaving a large gap in the middle.

"Nurse Joy," Silver said. The pink haired nurse soon popped her head round a curtain. She looked from Silver to me then to Paul.

"What happened?" she asked walking quickly towards me.

"I split acid on my arm," I replied. The nurse nodded. She gestured for Paul to carry me through the gap in the curtains. Paul gently placed me on a spare bed and stepped out of Nurse Joy's way. She began to fuss over me, scowling when she saw my arms.

"She'll be fine," Nurse Joy told Paul and Silver, "You can go."

"There's no point me going back to class," Paul said. Silver rolled his eyes before he walked off. Paul watched the prefect leave the room before walking to the other side of my bed. He offered to help Nurse Joy. She smiled at him and thanked him as he did some things for her. I winced as the Nurse dried my arm. She disappeared suddenly leaving me alone with Paul. We remained in an awkward silence until the Nurse reappeared with some sort of lotion.

"Now, tell me," she said, "How did you spill so much acid on yourself at such an awkward angle?"

"Someone poured it on her," Paul stated. Nurse Joy frowned, muttering something about students.

"Why did they do that?" she asked me. I winced again as I felt a new stinging sensation on my arm. Nurse Joy was rubbing the lotion onto my arm as gently as she could but it didn't stop it from hurting. I bit down hard on my bottom lip as my eyes threatened to spurt gallons. Paul grabbed my upper arm. I looked at him. His grip was comforting, his eyes seemed concerned but his expression was blank. Nurse Joy continued to rub the lotion on both of my arms before she wrapped them up in bandages.

"I'll be back later," she told us before leaving us once more.

Paul sat down on a chair beside my bed as I stared at a curtain, tears threatening to pour once again. The pain was dully flickering in my arms now. Every now and again the pain would rise sharply but then fall. After a few minutes I felt a bit calmer. I looked at Paul and offered him a smile. He was sat with his arms folded across his chest, eyebrows knitted together.

"Thanks," I said softly. He looked at me for a second before closing his eyes, letting out his usual 'hn' noise. I relaxed into the pillow.

"Why did Ursula pour acid on you?" Paul asked.

"She said she wanted me to fail the class," I answered. I paused looking at Paul for a second. A pang of courage came from nowhere and I suddenly blurted: "Do you like Ursula?"

"No," was his answer. It was apparent from his tone that he disliked Ursula quite a bit. I tilted my head to one side.

"Why not?" I asked. Paul glanced at me before quickly looking away.

"She's annoying," he replied.

"I bet you think I'm annoying right?" I asked, smiling at him.

"You're not annoying," Paul said, "You're troublesome."

"That makes me feel so much better," I replied sarcastically. Paul smirked slightly. "So, if she liked you and she asked you out, would you turn her down?"

"Yes."

"Just like that?"

"Yes."

"With no reason why?"

"No."

"You're cold."

I let out a sigh. I looked down at my arms and let out another sigh. This was just great. Now I would have to miss out on loads of notes. That would mean I would fail science for sure. No doubt Mr Hyde would fail me for causing such a mess in the first place. What would May and Misty think? Misty was going to go ballistic when she heard about this.

"Would you like anything to eat?" Paul asked. I glanced at him and shook my head.

"I'm fine thank you," I replied, "But I could really do with a drink."

He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets. He walked away from the bed and towards the front of the room. I opened my mouth to say something but he was gone. How did he know what I liked? I hoped he got me some Pecha Juice but I knew the likelihood of that was slim. As long as it wasn't too spicy, I wasn't bothered.

Paul returned about ten minutes later, holding a can of sparkling Pechade in one hand and bag of sweets in the other hand. I eyed the sweets carefully. Who knew Paul had a sweet tooth. I thought he may have preferred bitter or sour things which would explain the permanent scowl on his face. He sat down in his chair and put the can and the bag of sweets on the floor. He pulled a few straws out of his pocket and began to fix them together so that they created a long straw. Finally he opened the can of Pechade, dropping the long straw into the hole at the top. He placed it on the bed, between my arm and body. The can was cold next to my skin but I didn't care.

"You really thought about this, didn't you?" I asked, "Thanks. How did you know I liked Pecha tasting things?"

Paul shrugged as he reached for his sweets. Somehow, I managed to get the straw in my mouth and took a long drink from the Pechade. After I flopped back into the pillow. I went back to thinking about Misty and what she would do when she found out. I suddenly found myself laughing. Paul gave me a quick glance before he rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said once I regained my composure, "I was just thinking what Misty would do when she finds out. She'll go berserk for sure."

I smiled at him but he had his eyes closed, like he was ignoring me. I bit my lip, trying to think of something better to talk about, but my mind just went blank.

"Why do you go down to the lake?" I asked suddenly, "You know in the morning."

"It helps me relax," Paul replied, looking at me once more, "And it beats watching Ketchum eat his breakfast. Disgusting."

"You always have those cereal bars, don't you?" I prompted, hoping to get a proper conversation out of him at last. He nodded. My shoulders sagged. "Is that all you have?"

"I've never seen you eat anything," Paul snapped.

"I sometimes take fruit and eat it there," I argued back, "Or sometimes I pick berries."

"You sound health obsessed with the fruit," Paul commented.

"Not really," I said, "I just love fruit, apart from blueberries. Bleh. Melon and strawberries are the best. Then pecha berries, they're so nice. I could eat fruit all day and not get bored of it."

We returned to the silence. I felt like I should say something but nothing sounded good in my head. I slurped on the straw a few more times. Paul glanced at me and rolled his eyes.

"You always read books at the lake," he said. I nodded. "Are they all stupid romance novels?"

I shook my head: "I only read good romance novels, none of those cheesy ones with the horrible clichéd situations. I prefer fantasy to romance if I'm honest. I like to hear stories about mystical Pokémon or funny stories about adventures."

Paul nodded.

"My favourite book of all time is one I found in an old bookshop in Ecruteak a few years ago," I told Paul. He looked interested so I decided to continue. "It was about a Suicine who is captured by this horrible man in a cape. Suicine tries to break free but never gets too far until the man catches up with it. Then one day the Suicine comes across this little girl who hides if from the man. Suicine stays with the little girl until the man kills her family, then Suicine takes her far away and leaves her there. After a few years, the girl goes to find Suicine, but she has to follow this trial of clues which eventually leads her home where she has to face her inner demons about her family. Once she forgives herself for the death of her family, Ho-oh appears and tells the girl where Suicine is but warns her of the great dangers of rescuing Suicine. She sets off anyway."

"And?" Paul asked.

"You'll have to read it to find out," I said winking at him. Paul rolled his eyes again. There were a few more minutes in silence before Paul spoke again.

"What did the girl look like?" he asked.

"She had midnight hair and eyes of sapphire," I replied, pausing to think, "She was about sixteen in the later part of the book. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Paul said with a shrug.

"You're really weird, you know that right?" I asked, earning me a glare.

**Yay! Paul and Dawn talk to each other! It's an improvement. I really like writing the rivals as mean. It's fun!**

**Author's Blabber**

**I asked my friend from Comprehensive school what sort of experiments we did back in the day in science. Bearing in mind she's a scientist, I thought she must have paid attention in lessons. Turns out she didn't. We both think we did a similar experiment in our science lessons, however, the only one I can remember is when we were told to heat up some limestone one lesson and my group's lump decided to explode. We all got a taste of red hot limestone that day. On the plus side, we never saw another piece of limestone in science again… The End**

**Anyway, please don't forget to review :) I'll update when I manage to get round to it, but knowing me it won't be long :) Bye!**

**RSx**


	4. Of Dreams and New People

**Well, I have a spare five minutes so here's the next chapter! Thanks to splitheart1120, RaveOn21now22, AnimexLuver4Ever, mednin, xXCanaryXx and Lynx of the Sand for their reviews XD **

**Well, there seems to be sort of a plot in this chapter. Sort of. And also, my OC's will be making an entrance, so if you don't like OCs, sorry :( **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon T_T**

**Chapter Four: Of Dreams and New People**

"HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!" Misty roared as she saw me laying on the hospital bed. May peered round the curtain and gasped at my arms. Leaf, who had been sat on the end of the bed for the past five minutes smiled at Misty. Paul rolled his eyes at the red head.

"Told you she was in here," came Drew's voice. May jumped out of the way so I could see Drew and Ash. "Hey, Dawn. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I replied. Drew glanced at Paul.

"Hope he's not been too much trouble," Drew said. I laughed.

"He's been great," I said, "Thanks a lot for your company Paul."

"Hn," was his reply.

"So?" Misty asked, "How did this happen?"

"I just sorta spilt acid on my arms," I replied, with a quick glance to Paul, "I shouldn't have been carrying three bottles at a time. Thankfully Paul noticed what I'd done and made sure I was OK."

"Leaf?" Misty asked. Leaf shrugged.

"I only noticed because I went to get some hydrochloric acid," Leaf said, "I didn't see what happened. All I heard was Paul saying 'what the hell were you thinking'."

She quoted Paul in funny voice which made Drew laugh. Ash smiled in his usual goofy way.

"It's no laughing matter," Misty snapped. She turned to Paul. "Thank you for looking after her."

"It's no problem," Paul replied.

"Yeah, Paul just wanted to get out of lesson," Ash said, "So lucky. I had to eat Gary's cooking."

"You eat anything," Misty retorted.

"Like May then," Drew added.

"Hey!" May yelled, clipping Drew on the arm. Drew waved it off. Paul rolled his eyes, muttering something about annoying friends. Leaf suddenly leapt off my bed and did a twirl toward Paul. Paul looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. Leaf regarded him for a second before smiling at him.

"Can I have a sweetie?" she asked, looking at the half eaten bag he'd brought in hours ago. Paul glanced at the bag before picking it up and offering her one. Leaf spent a few seconds debating over which one to pick before she actually grabbed one. "Thank you."

"Ready to go?" Misty asked me. I nodded. I shuffled into a seating position and swung my legs off one side of the bed. Leaf helped me to my feet before making sure my skirt was hanging right. She gave me a thumbs up. I turned to Paul and gave him a bow.

"Thanks again for staying with me," I said. Paul got out of his chair and began to walk towards the door of the nurse's station. I sighed as I walked round the curtains only to find Paul was talking to Nurse Joy. She handed him a bottle and smiled at me.

"Come back here if it gets any worse," she told me. I nodded as I was led out of the station by my friends and the two guys. Paul walked behind the guys as if he didn't want to be there. Drew and May were arguing while Misty and Ash were chatting about something in home economics. Leaf was humming as she led me through the school. I saw Ursula, Melody and Harley crowded around their lockers. They each glanced my way, smirking as they saw my arms in bandages. I let out a sigh.

I noticed Ursula walking towards us but she didn't speak to me. Instead she dropped back to talk to Paul. I glanced back at Paul to see a look of slight annoyance flicker across his face for an instant before it disappeared. Ursula was twirling her finger in her hair and batting her eye lashes in an alluring manner. Paul didn't seem to take any notice of her. I couldn't here what she was saying but Paul was casting her a very dark look.

"Go away," he told her, abrupt as always. Everyone seemed to stop walking and talking to see what had got Paul so annoyed. Drew folded his arms across his chest while Ash looked around cautiously, just in case Melody was around. Sure enough, the brunette jumped on Ash's back a few seconds later.

"Hi, Ashy," she cooed. Ash gulped, looking at Drew for help. Drew was too busy watching Ursula and Paul.

"Come on, Paul," Ursula pleaded, batting her eyelashes once again, "I mean, it's only breakfast. I can even bring it to your dormitory for seven o clock."

"No," Paul told her. Ursula tilted her head to one side, a small pout forming on her lips.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because," Paul replied, failing to give a proper answer. Ursula glanced towards me.

"Stop being a prune head, Paul," Melody said from Ash's back, "There's playing hard to get and then there's playing hard to get. Right, Ashy?"

"But, Paul's not even in the dorm at seven," Ash blurted, "He's out training by then."

"Well I can bring breakfast to where you're training," Ursula said, "It will really help you think."

Paul shot Ash a momentary glare before he rolled his eyes and began to walk towards Leaf and I. Leaf was smiling widely.

"We should get troublesome back to her dorm," Paul stated, but it was aimed more at Leaf than the rest of the guys. Leaf nodded and waved to everyone.

"Bye bye," she said before tugging me along. I heard footsteps running behind me. I was roughly pushed out of Leaf's grasp and landed painfully on the floor.

"I'll be at yours at ten to seven," Ursula told Paul. She turned on her toes before walking back to her locker. Melody jumped off Ash's back and walked with her friend. Leaf was already at my side trying to get me off the floor.

"Just leave me here," I told her, "With the way my day's going I think this is as good as its going to get."

Misty and May were soon trying to get me up but they kept letting me drop whenever I let out a yelp of pain. The guys stood watching us until Paul got annoyed.

I was rolled onto my back sharply. Paul picked me up like he had done earlier and began walking towards the dormitories once again, muttering a snappy shut up to Drew as we passed him.

"What?" Drew asked, "I wasn't going to say anything."

"He's awfully good at carrying her," Leaf commented. Drew nodded.

We walked to the girl's zone of the dormitories. I was half expecting to be dropped by Paul but he waited for Leaf to type in her code and continued to carry me to the flat. Ash and Drew followed, looking in wonder at the place.

"Wow," Drew said, "It's nice here."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. The halls had white washed walls and dark wood floors. Deep red curtain hung in the windows and vases of flower and plants were darted around. There were a few pictures on the walls, all oil paintings in dark wood frames, but nothing compared to the staircase. It was a large stair case that led to the first level. It had a red carpet running in the middle of it and dark wooden banisters. On the end of the banisters were gold pokéballs with large 'R' engraved on them.

"Isn't the boy's side like this?" May asked.

"Nope," Drew replied, "It's all modern and technical."

"Sounds dull," May commented. Leaf led Paul up the stairs case and towards our room. The others drifted behind us. Drew and May were arguing once again, but that was no surprise.

Leaf unlocked the door and showed Paul into the apartment. Paul looked around the apartment as he walked through the door.

"Mine and May's room is that one," I said nodding towards the door nearest the front door. Paul nodded and walked towards it. I twisted the handle to open the door. At least I could still use my hands. I pointed to my bed at the far side of the room. Paul walked over to it and placed me gently on the mattress.

"Thanks, Paul," I said. He nodded and went to leave. "Wait."

He turned back round and folded his arms. I pointed over towards my bookshelf.

"That book I was telling you about is on the second shelf, third one along," I told him, "You can borrow it, I mean, if you want."

Paul walked over to the bookshelf and carefully picked out the book. He looked over it a few times before he nodded. He walked back over to my bed and put the bottle Nurse Joy gave him on the chest of drawers by the side of my bed.

"Rub this on your arms twice a day," Paul told me, tapping the bottle for emphasis, "Call Nurse Joy if the pain gets any worse."

"Sure," I nodded.

"You shouldn't go for your walk tomorrow either," Paul went on, walking towards the door.

I pouted: "But I like my morning walk."

"Troublesome girl," Paul muttered before walking out of the room. I smiled as he left. I relaxed slightly in my bed, wondering how I was going to get undressed. How embarrassing not being able to get undressed by myself would be. Leaf poked her head round the door and walked over to my bed, sitting down on the end like she had done in the nurse's station.

"You alright?" she asked. I nodded. Leaf looked at me with a bit of concern in her eyes. She glanced over to the door before looking back at me. "I know Ursula threw that acid on you."

"How?" I asked, sitting up.

"I over heard her and Melody talking by the sink at the end of class," Leaf explained, "But don't worry, I won't tell Misty if you don't want me to."

"Thanks, Leaf," I said, "She'd only get mad."

"I know," Leaf agreed, "You don't have to share a room with her."

I chuckled slightly before May and Misty walked into the room.

"The guys have gone," Misty informed us, "Paul seemed pretty eager to leave actually."

"He'll probably have to go have a lie down," May said, "He's been sociable the whole afternoon."

"But he's looked after Dawn," Leaf said in Paul's defence, "He's been really good."

"He's still grumpy," May complained as she jumped on her bed. She stretched out on top of the duvet. "What's for dinner? I'm hungry."

~R~

There were flashes of blue light mixed in with purple. A Pokémon appeared out of no where. It was a four legged, blue creature with a long purple mane. On its forehead sat a crown which looked like it was made out of Emerald or something. It looked towards me as I reached forwards, trying to grab it. I had to follow it. I ran as it ran away from.

"Dawn," it spoke, its voice calm, deep and mystical.

I woke up. I looked around seeing that I was back in the dormitory. I let out a small sigh as I tried to get onto my feet. What was the creature? It had to be a Pokémon but I wasn't sure what kind. I looked down at my arms. They didn't seem to hurt at all. I guess it was time to put on the lotion Paul had given me. I started to undo the bandages when I gasped. They were perfectly normal. I checked the other arm to see that one had healed as well. Was I still dreaming?

I got changed quickly, wearing a sweatshirt instead of a sweat-vest. I grabbed my bag and left the dorm. I raced down to the Lake, glancing at the time as I did so. I had slept a little later day, how strange. It was quarter to seven. How late? Wow.

Out the doors of the dormitory I turned to go towards the lake when I ran into something. I fell backwards onto my bum. I looked up to see Paul glaring down at me.

"I thought I told you to stay inside this morning," he said. I leapt to my feet, ignoring him and running off into the direction of the lake. I ran and ran until the Lake came into view. I ran to the shore line and panted. It wasn't good to run. I rolled up my sleeves and looked at the skin. Sure it was a bit pink but all the horrible burns had disappeared. How did it happen? I must be still dreaming. I collapsed onto my knees suddenly very tired from the running.

"What are you doing?" Paul had followed me. I ignored him again. He walked over to me and stood beside me for a few second before he must have noticed my arms. "Your arms…"

"I don't know," I said, "They were like this when I woke up."

He crouched down next to me, taking my arm and gently inspecting the should-be wounds. He watched him for a few seconds before I looked away, slightly embarrassed at him being so close.

"That's weird," he murmured. I pulled my arm from his grasp and pulled the sleeve down to cover it. I hugged myself. Paul sat down. He watched me for a few seconds before he looked over the Lake.

Silence fell over us. Nobody spoke and nobody felt like they had to speak. It was comfortable and wanted by both of us.

"We need to go to school," he informed me as he looked at his watch. He was stood up already. He offered me his hand, which I grabbed firmly. He hoisted me onto my feet. I muttered a thanks to him and we walked back to the school.

Outside school was as busier than it usually was at this time, despite us being early. I noticed Lyra stood in a line of prefects. They were strangely stood as if they were waiting for something. Silver was stood a few people away from Lyra. His eyes flickered onto Paul for a second before he smirked and looked away.

"I wonder what's going on," I said to Paul. As I said this I saw a car coming towards the school. It was a black saloon car with tinted windows. It seemed longer than a normal car, rather like a short limo. It stopped in front of the line of prefects. I peered to see who was coming out of the car as the driver ran out and opened the door. The prefects bowed as a boy with silver, short but elegant hair stepped out of the car. He was wearing the school uniform. Next stepped a curvy girl with long, majestic gold hair wearing the school uniform with a little too short skirt. I glanced at Paul.

"Who are they, I wonder," I murmured, "Are they some elite's kids, do you think?"

"Probably," Paul said, "Usually students start at beginnings of terms not half way through them."

Finally another girl emerged from the car. She had wavy sea green hair that went to her shoulders. She looked around, spotting the two of us. She smiled kindly at us before she looked at the prefects.

"She looks nice," I commented.

"I didn't realise you were into girls," Paul replied.

"I'm not," I snapped. Silver had straightened up and was now shaking the hand of the silver haired boy. "Silver seems to know them."

"Hn," Paul said walking towards the building. I rushed to catch up with him, not wanting to be left alone. Silver saw us walking towards the building, as did Lyra. I smiled at Lyra as I passed her. She smiled back momentarily before Silver spoke.

"Paul, Girl," Silver said. Paul and I looked at Silver as we were called. Silver gestured to the three newcomers. "These are Wyre, Celeste and Raven."

Paul and I bowed at the three, muttering polite welcomes to them. Raven, the green haired girl smiled at us once again, her eyes lingering on Paul for a second before she looked at me. Celeste was looking Paul up and down with a smile gracing her lips.

"Celeste and Raven will be in your classes," Silver told them, "Would you like to take them to class?"

"I would prefer to look around the campus first," Wyre said in a regal voice. Silver gave Paul a look and Paul nodded. Silver led the three new comers inside the building. Paul and I moved out the way so they could get past us. Once the four of them had gone inside, Paul began walking behind them. I kept up with him.

"Er… Are we following them round?" I asked in a whisper. Paul nodded. I let out a quiet sigh. I was going to be late to lessons, I knew it. Ursula was going to be mean to me again because I was with Paul. This week was starting to be very, very bad.

"You have pretty hair," Raven said to me suddenly. I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Thank you," I replied, "But your hair is so much nicer than mine."

"Thanks," Raven said. She had such a kind sounding voice. Harmonic, almost. I found myself smiling once again as Raven smiled at me.

"Girl," Celeste said suddenly in a shrill voice, "Do you always wear that stupid hair clip?"

"My friend bought it me for my birthday," I said, "It's the only one I own."

"It's tacky," Celeste snapped.

"I think it looks nice," Raven said, "The colour suits her."

"You think a lot of stupid things," Celeste told her friend, "So Paul."

Her voice changed ever so unsubtly as she glanced at Paul. Paul looked at her upon hearing his name, but looked just as uninterested as ever.

"You one of the popular kids?" she asked. Paul rolled his eyes and didn't answer. Celeste blinked a few times. To not seem too rude, I decided to answer for Paul.

"Yeah, he's one of the four most popular guys in the year," I explained.

"And why do hang around with Girl, Paul?" Celeste asked.

"She has a name," Paul replied. I glanced at him in surprise. It seemed stupid but I never thought he knew my name. He'd never addressed me before using it. "Troublesome."

My shoulders sagged. I take it back. He didn't know my name.

"My name is Dawn," I told him.

"Troublesome?" Raven asked, "It's cute. He has a pet name for you."

Paul's eyes widened for a second before he looked at Raven. I looked at Raven too.

"Pet name?" I asked, "He thinks I'm a Pokémon?"

"If you were I'd release you," Paul murmured, "Troublesome girl."

"Mr Grumpy," I retorted. Raven giggled. Even Wyre chuckled.

"The students here are quite amusing," he said to Silver but loud enough for the rest of us to hear. Celeste nodded.

"And all the guys so far are just delicious," she commented, glancing at Paul, "Even if they have poor choices in people they hang around with. I'm sure I can change that."

I looked at Paul who seemed to be looking the other way. I let out a sigh. Yes, this week was getting worse and worse. Not only Ursula had a vendetta against me, now Celeste did.

~R~

We arrived to the first lesson late, but the teacher excused us since we had Celeste and Raven with us. Paul and I walked to our respective seats and sat down, taking out our stuff as Celeste and Raven were introduced.

"Where were you?" Misty asked me in a hushed voice, "We were worried."

"Sorry," I replied, but gave her no excuse. Misty clicked her tongue before passing on the message to May and Leaf. I glanced at Paul to see him with his head in his palm. I glanced over him to see Gary, Drew and Ash craning to look at the two new girls.

"Wow she's hot," I heard Gary mutter.

"Her hair looks like caramel," Ash said.

"Like a hot, caramel goddess," Drew commented. I smiled at them.

"Celeste, Raven," the teacher said, "Who would you like to sit beside?"

"Paul," Celeste said without hesitation. There was an audible groan from Paul: I bit down a laugh.

"Yeah, sir," Gary said, standing up, "We'd be more than happy to look after Celeste."

"Yeah, you can count on us, sir," Drew added.

"You're too kind," Celeste said, winking at them. Gary and Drew slid back into their chairs with delighted expressions on their faces.

"Can I sit next to Dawn, please, sir?" Raven asked, "She's been awfully kind to me already."

"Very well," the teacher said. The two girls walked towards Paul and I. Raven bounded up the last few steps and sat in a chair nest to me.

"Hello," Raven said brightly, "I'm Raven. I hope I'm not imposing on you girls."

"It's no problem," Misty said, "I'm Misty."

"I'm May," May introduced, "And this is Leaf. She's had sugar on her cereal this morning so she's a bit hyper."

"Hello," Leaf said with a wave, "Welcome to the school."

"Thank you," Raven replied, smiling. She glanced across at Paul and the boys. Celeste had linked arms with Paul. Paul didn't look too pleased. Celeste batted her eyelashes at the other three.

"I'm such a forgetful person," she said, "I forgot my pen."

"I can make notes for you, Celeste," Gary said.

"No, I can," Drew argued.

"No, she's going to pick me," Ash snapped.

"Why don't all of you do notes for me?" Celeste suggested. The three guys nodded and set to work. Celeste then turned to Paul. "You're so kind to look after me, Paulie."

"She's going to be dead by the end of the day," Misty said. The five of us nodded in agreement before we laughed.

**Many ways to annoy Paul (Part One)**

**1. Call him 'Paulie'**

**2. Say he's got lavender hair**

**3. Hang onto his arm**

**4. Get him wet**

**5. Tell him his Ursaring is 'cute'**

**6. Make him wear pink**

**7. Read his mind**

**8. Anything Reggie does**

**9. Comment on his grumpiness**

**10. Adopt his grumpiness for yourself**

**Sorry, just fancied a longer author's note *shrugs* If you have anymore, please tell me and I'll add them to my list. Woo! Also don't ask me how I got the OC's names. They were inspired by something… I have yet to find out what… apart from Raven. I just like birds.**

**Don't forget to review :) It makes me update faster! Bye!**

**RSx**


	5. Of Lunch and Baking

**Thanks to: ****splitheart1120, dawnshine, AnimexLuver4Ever, RaveOn21now22, xXCanaryXx and dattebayo4321 for reviewing! Yay, I like it when people review my stories :) Makes me think to update quicker. I am trying to get into schedule of updating and for this story updates will be on Sunday and Wednesday sometime… If I'm not being a randy Grandma in a play… Don't ask.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy the next instalment of Rocket Academy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA… wait, wrong fandom T_T Er… that's embarrassing… Well I don't own FMA (Fullmetal Alchemist) or Pokémon so erm… let's get onto chapter five…**

**Chapter Five: Of Lunch and Baking**

Sat in the last class before Lunch was as boring as ever. It seemed to drag on forever. Raven was hard at work writing down notes at top speed. May had given up and was doodling in the corner of her book. Misty was taking down a few notes but nothing in great detail. Leaf was attempting to eat her pen by the looks of it. Half needing a break, half out of curiosity, I glanced over at Paul and the guys.

Drew, Gary and Ash were taking down notes furiously, each glancing up at around the same time to check what they were writing before writing it down. Celeste had her head leaned on Paul's shoulder. Paul was watching the teacher. He must have sensed I was looking at him because he glanced over at me, giving me a bored/annoyed look. I merely stuck my tongue out at him. Rolling his eyes, he looked forwards once more.

Not five minutes later the teacher finally dismissed us. The class slowly filtered out of the class and headed to lunch. Celeste was once again hanging off of Paul's arm, a smirk on her face. I watched them walk out of the classroom, Drew, Gary and Ash rushing behind them. I didn't realise I was staring until Misty nudged me.

"Sorry," I muttered before moving out of her way. Raven followed us to the lunch hall.

"I really thought I was going to die of hunger," May was complaining.

"You always think you're going to die of hunger in the lesson before lunch," Misty replied.

"I'm surprised Paul hasn't gone for Celeste yet," Leaf said, "I mean, he's snapped at Ursula, Melody, Marble, Leona, Autumn, Spring and Summer, Angie, Zoey, Misty, May and me for talking to him never mind hanging onto his arm like she is."

"He's an angry, angry man," May agreed. Raven laughed.

"So he's never snapped at Dawn before?" Raven asked.

"He's never really spoken to her before yesterday," Misty said, "Then suddenly you two seem like the best of friends."

"I bumped into him this morning when he was training," I told her. It was a lie I know but I didn't want them to think I went to the lake to meet up with him.

"He told you not to go out today," Misty went on.

"So?" I asked, "I needed the fresh air. I had a pretty weird dream."

"What about?" May asked.

"Er…" I stuttered. I couldn't tell them. They'd think I was insane. "A dancing Ivysaur. It was dancing on… Drew's head."

Yeah, because that wasn't weird at all.

"That seems weird," Raven commented. I rubbed the back of my head.

We sat down at a table in the dinning hall and waited for the Pokémon to bring us our food. The Academy used Natus and Xatus to take physic orders and then Machops would bring it to our tables. It was a good service and kept cues down. No later than five minutes later a Machop walked towards us holding our lunches on a large tray. We each grabbed what we wanted and thanked the Machop before he went back to the kitchens.

"Wow," Raven commented as she watched the Machop, "They got this just right."

She was holding a tuna and cucumber sandwich in her hands. May had her usual noodles while Misty was nibbling a few fries and a cheeseburger. Leaf had a large slice of chocolate fudge cake. I glanced down at my lunch. Fruit had got the better of me again I supposed. I picked up my fork and mindlessly began picking at the melon, strawberries, grapes and pecha berries.

"Do you ever eat anything else, May?" Drew asked as he walked up to the table. May stopped slurping her noodles to glare at Drew.

"What do you want Hayden?" she snapped.

"Celeste would like to sit with her friend, Raven," Drew explained.

"So you're commandeering our table?" May asked. Quickly a group of Machops appeared adding an extra table for Drew and the others to sit at and putting out the right number of chairs for them as well. Drew smiled as he sat down close to May, smirking at her.

"Raven," I heard Celeste say. Raven turned to great her friend.

"Celeste, are you having fun?" Raven asked.

"I'm having so much fun with Paulie," Celeste said, dragging Paul by the arm to the table. Gary and Ash were floating behind her. Gary rushed forwards to pull out a chair for Celeste. She sat down and gave him a wink for a thanks. I glanced at Paul. He was dusting off his sleeve where Celeste had been hanging on to him. He walked to the other side of the table and sat down beside Drew. Celeste pulled a face at him. "You don't want to sit next to me, Paulie? I could feed you lunch."

"No," Paul told her. Ash and Gary fought to sit down beside Celeste. Gary won. Ash slunk into the chair next to Gary. The table was silent for the next few minutes until the Machop from before reappeared holding another tray. Ash lifted off his double fries, double cheeseburger and pizza. Gary picked up Celeste's salad and passed it to her. He then picked up his own rice balls. Drew leant across and picked up a sandwich of some kind, also grabbing a bottle of water and a packet of crisps and something for Paul. I glanced to see what Paul was eating, wondering if all he ate was cereal bars. It was an oval lunch box filled with the usual rice and bits and bobs.

"Paulie, that looks amazing," Celeste said.

"He has it everyday," Gary said, "You can guarantee it."

"We all have our favourites," Raven said, "I usually have tuna and cucumber sandwiches for lunch. Usually it's the Mr Mime at home that makes them for me though."

"What are you eating?" Celeste asked me.

"Dawn's obsessed by fruit," May explained, "She'll eat it at any opportunity."

"Who's Dawn?" Celeste questioned. The table went quiet. "Is she a popular person?"

"That's Dawn," Misty said, pointing to me. Celeste frowned.

"She's not Dawn, she's Troublesome," Celeste replied, "Isn't she Paulie?"

"It's Dawn," Paul replied. Celeste sweat-dropped.

"But this morning you said her name was 'Troublesome' not Dawn," Celeste said, her voice rising an octave. I let out a sigh. Raven was smiling happily at the conversation.

"I'm pretty sure Paul was joking," Raven said, "That's his name for her."

"Wow," Drew said, causing Raven to look at him, "I like you. You're quick to the mark."

"I have a way of understanding people," Raven said.

"You know how annoying that is?" Celeste asked, "Every little thing and it's like you're this, you're that. It really gets on my nerves. Why did daddy send me with you?"

I looked round to see Silver and Wyre walking towards us. Silver looked around the table, scowling.

"You have got to be kidding me," he said, "You're sitting with the idiot's girls?"

"Celeste wanted to sit with Raven," Ash explained, "It's no problem for us."

"Who's the idiot?" Raven asked.

"A prefect called Lyra," Drew replied, flicking his hair.

"Lyra-chan isn't an idiot!" Misty yelled at Silver, "She's a nice person."

"She's an idiot," Silver muttered. Raven blinked a few times.

"Are you and Paul related? You seem similar," Raven pointed out.

"We are similar," Silver agreed, "But we're not related. Drew. A word."

"Sure," Drew said, jumping to his feet.

"Would you mind staying here for a few minutes?" Silver asked Wyre. Wyre shook his head and went to sit in Drew's seat.

"So how have your days been going?" Wyre asked Raven and Celeste.

"It's been wonderful. Paulie has really been so nice to me. He's led me round everywhere. And the other three have kindly made sure my notes are in tip top shape," Celeste replied, "I'm so lucky to have made such handsome friends."

"She thinks we're handsome," Ash muttered to Gary. They both smiled awkwardly, blushes on their cheeks.

"Dawn, Misty, May and Leaf have been super kind to me, Wyre," Raven told the older lad, "They've really looked after me and included me all the time."

"It's good to hear that you're getting on well," Wyre said, "Thank you for looking after my friends."

"It's really no problem," Misty said, "It's nice meeting new friends."

"She's an angel," Ash and Gary cooed. Misty let out a sigh. Leaf laughed loudly, suddenly, making everyone glance at her. She had finished her cake and was now receiving a chocolate milkshake from a Machop. She was stroking its head and it was tapping its foot.

"Bye, Mr Machop," she said as it walked back to the kitchens. Drew and Silver returned a few seconds later. Drew looked pensive, like he'd been given some bad news. Wyre jumped out of the chair and allowed Drew to sit back down.

"We'll be off now," Silver announced, "Wyre?"

Wyre said goodbye and then left with Silver. Drew was muttering something to Paul. Paul didn't look too impressed. I glanced at Raven, who shrugged in reply. Paul stood up and walked off without saying anything. Drew sweat-dropped.

"He's… er… going to check something for me," Drew said.

"What's going on?" Ash asked, suddenly snapping out of his in love mood to his normal mood.

"It's nothing," Drew replied.

"Have you heard about the Legendaries?" Celeste asked suddenly. We looked at her. "They say the legendaries are returning slowly. They find trainers to stay close to."

"That's weird," Misty commented, "Surely they'd be afraid of trainers."

"I know," Celeste agreed, "But they say they go with trainers with the purest hearts and those trainers are normally girls."

"Girls?" Gary said, "Why girls?"

"I don't know," Celeste replied, "But whoever these girls are, they need to be treated with care. They say three have already found trainers already. Ho-oh, Lugia and Suicune. I hope we find them soon."

"They say that the trainers' lives will be effected by the Pokémon," Raven went on, "So Ho-oh will become a much more powerful trainer with a great compassion for all things. Lugia will be as soft and serene as the sea, yet a force to be reckoned with when needs be. Suicune will be tranquil and calm, always running from something but capturing the hearts of many."

"Sounds interesting," Drew commented, "So Entei would be hot headed?"

"Raikou will be angry and aggressive," Ash said, thinking deeply, "Like most electric types."

"And Celebi would just want to mess around and have fun? I bet they'd have a thing for green too?" Gary asked. Raven and Celeste nodded.

"Right," they replied. Misty, May and Leaf broke out into giggles.

"Boy, are those girls weird," May said, "I mean what kind of girl is a hot head?"

"Or aggressive?" Misty added.

"Or mess around that much," Leaf said. The three of them fell about in mad laughter. Celeste raised an eyebrow at them.

"Actually," I said, "You three are just like that."

"What?" the three of them asked.

"Well, May can be pretty hot headed and short tempered whenever it comes to food or Drew," I explained, "Misty can get pretty aggressive from time to time whenever she gets mad at someone and Leaf tends to mess around quite a lot and eat a lot of sugar. She also has a thing for green."

There was an odd silence from the other end of the table. The three guys were glaring at each other with a comical look on their faces. Raven was nodding like she was agreeing with me, while Celeste was thinking. Amongst the silence, Paul returned to the table and sat back down. He looked at Drew before glancing up at the girls. They were all glaring at me like I had said something bad while mumbling they were nothing like what I had said.

"I see it," Raven muttered, "Too bad it's just a rumour."

"You don't believe it's true?" Gary asked. Raven shook her head.

"She seems to think no legendary will ever go to a human for help," Celeste explained.

I sat back in my chair. Suicune? That was the Pokémon I saw in my dream. Why was I dreaming about it? I glanced at Paul. Of course, that was it. It was the book I had leant him yesterday. I must have been thinking about it before I fell asleep. I smiled. It was a really good book. I wonder if Paul had read any of it yet.

"I guess we should get to class," Misty said glancing at her wrist watch. We nodded. We collected our things and walked to the next class. I glanced at Paul to see that Celeste had attached herself to his arm once again. Once again, Paul didn't say anything, nor did his facial expressions change. His eyes flickered onto me for a second before he looked away.

I turned to Raven, smiling at her.

"So are you ready for home economics?" I asked.

"You bet!" she cheered.

~R~

I couldn't help but be relieved that Celeste was with Ash, Gary, May and Misty in Science in the afternoon. Celeste was beginning to get on my nerves. Thankfully I now had a Celeste free afternoon, even if Ursula was lurking in the back ground. Leaf and I were showing Raven round the home economics room. We had our own little area with cupboards, a sink, fridge and cooker with enough workspace for six people. Raven clapped in delight as we showed her what went where. Paul and Drew appeared at our table.

"Can we work with you?" Drew asked. Leaf pretended to think about it for a few seconds before she nodded.

"It's fine with us," she said, giving them a thumbs up.

"Great," Drew said, clapping his hands together, "But I warn you, I can't cook."

"I bet you can," Raven said.

"No," Paul replied dryly, "He can't."

"You're perfect for May then," Leaf commented, "She can't cook either."

"Can you cook, Paul?" Raven asked.

"He cooks everything," Drew replied for Paul, "He's the reason we get to eat at night."

"Really?" Leaf asked, amazed, "Well, we'd better get on. Let's bake!"

Raven had already begun getting out the bowl and mixing stuff. We looked at her.

"Cake?" she asked, "To celebrate Celeste's and mine first day?"

"Of course!" Drew yelled, pointing to the ceiling, "What a perfect idea! We'll make the perfect cake for the perfect girl."

"You sit out then," Paul told him. Drew comically dropped his arm to the side and began crying. Leaf and Raven giggled.

"I'll make the batter," I told them. Paul nodded, walking over to the cupboards to get out everything I needed. I picked up the recipe book and found a recipe for a Victoria sponge cake. He helped me weigh out everything, checking over the recipe as we worked. Raven and Leaf were talking about the icing and design of the cake. Drew was sulking by the table. Leaf brought us two square tins, fully greased, and placed them beside the cooker.

"We're thinking gold and silver decorations," she told us, "On white icing. Sound good?"

"Hn," Paul muttered. I nodded. Leaf skipped back to Raven and they left to raid the cake decorations store. I looked up at Paul.

"You're a pretty good cook," I said.

"I learnt from my brother," he replied.

"Oh," I said, "You have a brother? Older?"

"Hn," was the reply.

"I wish I had an older sibling," I admitted, "Someone to look out for me, but I guess I've got Lyra-chan and the others to look out for me. I guess they are my sisters."

Paul looked at me with a weird look in his eyes. I smiled at him.

"What's your brother like?" I asked.

"He's kind," Paul replied, "He likes to care for things. He doesn't like to fight. He likes to cook. He's like a housemaid."

I giggled at the last part. The way Paul talked about his brother was rather funny. It was obvious that Paul missed his brother but it was like he didn't want to admit it. I poured the cake batter into the two tins. Paul shoved them into the oven and we began to clear up. After we had washed up we joined the other three round the desk. Drew was still sulking from being barred from cooking. Leaf and Raven were making 3D things out of icing.

"Celeste loves roses," Raven told us, "So we're making gold roses for her."

"What are the silver flowers?" I asked.

"Blossoms," Raven replied, holding up a blossom she had just finished making. I smiled at it. It looked so pretty.

"They're great!" I exclaimed, "Wow, you two are really good at this."

"What is your favourite flower, Dawn?" Raven asked.

"Well," I replied, thinking slightly, "I really like scarlet pimpernels but I prefer the blue ones rather than the red ones."

"Roses are the best," Drew stated.

"I like roses," Leaf admitted, "But I like white ones."

"Paul?" Raven asked. We all looked at Paul for an answer, although none of us were really expecting one.

"Flowers are flowers to me," he replied.

"Do you like flowers?" Raven asked.

"Not particularly," he replied.

I decided it would be a good time to check on the cakes. I glanced through the glass part of the door and saw they were rising quite nicely. I skipped back to the table only to have my smile vanish as I saw Ursula talking to Paul.

"So you'll eat lunch with her but not have breakfast with me?" Ursula was asking.

"I didn't want to have either with any of you," Paul replied. Ursula glanced at me before she scowled.

"I see you're still hanging with that… thing," she snapped, "Why does she get all your attention? Hmm?"

"I'm Raven," Raven interrupted, holding out her hand for Ursula to shake, "I'm new."

"I know," Ursula replied coldly, "I was in the first class with you. As I was saying, why are you always around those girls? You can do so much better."

"Excuse me, Curly," Raven said. Ursula turned to Raven, surprised at the sudden outburst. Even Paul seemed slightly surprised at the use of 'Curly' as a name. Raven put her hands on her hips. "I am trying to make a cake here and your dark aura is making it impossible. Please, if you want to try to win Paul over then do it after school, not during lessons."

Ursula's eyes narrowed as Raven finished speaking. Leaf scooted round and hid behind Drew. Drew's eyes were wide in shock. Paul seemed interested in what was going to happen next. I stood beside him, ready to stop a fight if necessary.

"Let me tell you how things go here, girl," Ursula spat at Raven, "In this year, I'm the girl who everyone looks up to and wants either to be or to be with. All the guys love me and all the girls adore me. I don't take anything from measly little new comers like yourself, and those girls are at the bottom of the bottom of the food chain. I destroy people like them on a weekly basis. I make and break people. So you're either with me, or one of them."

"Let me tell you something, Curly," Raven replied in a cool, calm voice, "I am daughter of the guy who runs this place. I can make you from hero to zero in a click of my fingers. So if you think you're hard enough, come on, let's dance."

Ursula threw her head up and stalked away. Leaf peered out from behind Drew, her mouth wide open.

"That was amazing," Leaf muttered, "You're my hero, Raven."

"Sorry," Raven replied, rubbing her head, "But I really can't stand those sorts of girls."

"And yet you're with Celeste," Paul muttered.

"I said can't stand," Raven corrected, "Not put up with. At least she'll be off your back for a while now Dawn."

"Thank you, Raven," I replied, "Everyone seems to be helping me so much at the minute."

"Now back to the cake," Leaf yelled.

**OK, I apologise if anyone wants cake now :( Please review if you see any mistakes, want to ask any questions or just to say hi. I'll update on Wednesday. Bye!**

**RSx**


	6. Of Plans and Process

**It's Wednesday! Woo, update day! Thanks to my reviewers: Lynx of the Sand, splitheart1120, AnimexLuver4Ever, dattebayo4321, xXCanaryXx and RaveOn21now22 :) Well, here you are, the next chapter. In this chapter we find out some things… I can't tell you though. You have to read it :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon :( But Raven is mine! Someone else can have Celeste though lol.**

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Chapter Six: Of Plans and Progress

I was out of the dorm by quarter to seven the next morning. I had been up since my usual time but I had busied myself making lunch for Paul. Ever since talking to him about his brother yesterday, I wondered if that was why he liked having a home cooked lunch every lunch time. Thus, I had got up and made him one myself. Call it a thank you for helping me the other day. I wrapped it up and carried it in my left hand, expecting to see him at the lake.

I walked down the stairs to the front door of the dorm, thinking about yet another dream I had during the night. It was the same as the night before but this time Suicune hadn't fled, it had stayed with me and allowed me to stroke it. How weird. It felt like I had actually stroked it.

I glanced up to see Paul walking a head of me. I ran up to his side, adopting his pace once I reached him.

"Good morning," I greeted. Paul looked at me, before muttering a good morning. I beamed up at him. I held up the lunch I'd made for him. "I made you this. It's my way of saying thank you for helping me the other day."

Slowly, Paul took the bundle from me and looked at it for a few seconds. He looked confused for a split second until he seemed to realise what it was.

"It's a home cooked lunch," I told him, "It may not be as good as your brothers, but I hope you enjoy it."

"You're not becoming a fan girl of mine, are you?" he asked. I frowned at him.

"Not one bit," I replied, "You try and be nice and look what I get thrown back at me."

"Thank you," Paul said. We walked to the lake in silence. Along the way I picked some berries. Paul watched me carefully and helped himself to a few. He looked interested at an Oran berry for a few minutes before picking one. I picked a few Peacha berries, Nanab berries and Bluk berries for Piplup, Paul and me.

"I can make poffins with berries," I told him, "They're really good treats for your Pokémon you know."

"I don't spoil my Pokémon," Paul replied curtly. I stuck my tongue out at him again.

"Meanie," I taunted. After picking the berries we walked to the lake. We sat underneath my usual tree, looking out over the lake. I released Piplup. He washed the berries we'd picked with his water gun. Paul watched us with a look of amusement on his face. I stuck my tongue out at him once more when I saw him staring at us. I dried the berries in my handkerchief and handed Piplup a Bluk berry. The blue penguin danced around with it in his hands, chirping loudly. I offered Paul them and he took the Oran berry. I bit into a Pecha berry, smiling at the taste of it. I watched Piplup eat his Bluk berry and reach for another one, then glanced at Paul to see what he thought of the berry. He was staring out over the lake, biting into the berry. I watched him as his arm dropped to his lap and he chewed slowly, still staring out across the lake. The wind blew his hair slightly.

He glanced at me.

"What?" he asked. I blushed.

"It's nothing," I replied waving my arms out in front of me, "Sorry. I… er… just wanted to know if you liked the fruit."

"It's nice," Paul said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. I blinked a few times, wondering if I'd heard him right.

"You're really weird you know," I told him. Paul smirked.

"I guess I am," he admitted, "But at least I'm not troublesome."

"Ha ha," I said. I took a bite out of the Pecha berry in my hand, still watching Paul as he looked out over the Lake.

"How did you find this place?" Paul asked suddenly. It took some thinking about before I could answer him.

"I don't know," I replied, "I just decided to walk this way one morning and here I was. I just loved it here and decided to keep coming back. How did you come here?"

Paul glanced at me. I waited for an answer but it felt like I wasn't going to get one. Paul frowned for a few seconds before speaking.

"I followed you here," he said airily. I dropped my berry.

"You _followed _me?" I asked. He nodded.

"I saw you in class and thought you'd get yourself in trouble," Paul told me. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, rather like a Magikarp, unable to reply to this. "Why do you get up so early anyway?"

"Well," I began, but wondered if telling him was a good idea, "I don't sleep that well. Dreams wake me up and I can't get back to sleep."

"What kind of dreams?" he asked.

"They used to be just of blue and purple lights that flashed and swirled around a lot," I explained, "Then recently there's been a Pokémon in my dreams. It runs from me and I chase it and then I just wake up."

"And you just decide to come out here?"

"Pretty much."

"And you said I was weird?"

"Ha ha."

A breeze rippled through our hair. We watched as Piplup, fed up of eating berries, dived into the waters of the Lake. He swam round in a few circles before diving under the water, out of sight.

"I wish I understood the dreams," I said.

"Sometimes dreams aren't meant to be understood," Paul replied. I nodded.

"You're so cool," I said, "I doubt anyone sees this side of you."

"Drew does," Paul admitted, "But that's Drew."

"Raven seems to understand you too," I said. Paul shuddered. "What's wrong?"

"You said Raven," Paul said, rubbing his head, "My mind jumped onto Celeste."

"Don't you like her?" I asked, "I mean, you let her hang onto your arm all day without telling to let go."

"Silver would kill me if I upset her," Paul replied, "I've seen Silver mad before. I don't want him being mad at me."

"I guess," I agreed. I twiddled my thumbs for a few seconds, hesitant to ask him the next question. "Do you think she's pretty?"

"I guess she is in her own way," Paul said, "But she's not what I would class as 'pretty'."

"Are you gay?" I asked, frowning at Paul. Paul's head snapped towards me, his mouth slightly open. He was surprised by my question and seemed too stunned to reply. "Every other guy is all over Celeste but you're not and you don't seem to be very nice to girls."

Paul seemed to regain his composure.

"I'm not gay," he replied, "And most girls scare me."

"Do I scare you?" I asked.

"You terrify me," he replied, closing his eyes once more. With that we drifted back into silence.

~R~

I slammed my locker shut, unable to get Paul's answer out of my head. I terrify him do I? Why? I've only talked to him for a few days, he can't have decided that in such a short time.

"Stupid Paul," I muttered. I looked to my right to see Drew stood near to me with a shocked expression on his face. I smiled at him, giggling nervously. "Good morning."

"Hi," Drew said, "So what's Paul done?"

I blushed and shook my head.

"It's nothing really," I said, "Just Paul being Paul."

"You met him at the lake again?" Drew asked. I nodded, hoping my cheeks weren't too red. Drew closed his locker and leant against it. "So, he's actually talking to you now?"

"Ever since the other day," I replied. Drew looked thoughtful for a few seconds before an evil glint came into his eye.

"Is Raven with you today?" Drew asked, changing the topic suddenly. I nodded. "Brilliant. That means we'll sit with you again today!"

"Why's that so good?" I asked. Drew's expression dropped.

"Well," Drew replied slowly, "It's good to sit with people you get on with. Apart from May. Knowing her she'll be talking to Brendan at this minute. You would think she'd have better taste, right?"

A light bulb went off in my head.

"You like May, don't you?" I asked. Drew's eyes widened as he glared at me. "That's why you always fight and why you don't like Brendan. You have a-"

"Sssh," Drew said, clamping his hand round my mouth, "Not so loud."

So it was true. Slowly Drew took his hand from my mouth and looked around carefully. I laughed at him.

"So you do?" I asked quietly, "How long for?"

"For a while," Drew admitted, "But she only likes Brendan."

"I'm sure everything will be fine," I said, "You know if you tell her, she might realise you're better than Brendan."

"I'm not telling her," Drew told me, "I'm terrified of her."

I paused, thinking back to what Paul had said earlier. My smile disappeared off my face. Why was Paul terrified of me?

"You OK?" Drew asked. I nodded.

"It's just something Paul said," I replied, "He said most girls scare him but I terrify him. I don't understand why. I'm not that scary am I?"

Drew blinked at me a few times before he smiled at me.

"It's Paul," Drew said, "You know how he likes to get under people's skin."

"It's not like that," I said, "He really meant it."

"Hey," Drew said, picking a rose out of his pocket and handing it to me, "It's Paul. There's something you should know about him. He's weird."

I laughed as I took the rose. I twirled it in my hand, smiling contently at it. Drew and I walked to the first lesson, talking about May. I'm glad he'd told me. Maybe I could help him out but I wasn't sure how to yet. We walked to the back row where Misty and Leaf were already sat. Paul was sat in his place, looking at both of us. I turned to Drew and smiled at him.

"Thanks for the chat, Drew," I said, "I'll think about what you said, 'k?"

"No problem," Drew said. I twirled the rose once more in my hand and got an idea. I sat down in my seat, looking at the rose eagerly. This would be perfect. If I could use this to make May jealous then maybe she would realise she liked Drew instead. What if she didn't like Drew at all though? That would mean Drew stood no chance, but he was so much better than Brendan.

"Why have you given Dawn a rose, Drew?" Ash asked, making me glance up at the ebony haired guy.

"She looked down," Drew replied airily, "And I hate to see her upset."

"I thought you were only supposed to give flowers to girls you liked," Ash muttered.

"Oh but he has," I said, tapping the rose. Drew looked at me strangely for a few seconds before looking up at Ash and smiling.

"Stranger things have happened," Ash said as he sat down.

~R~

My plan had been working for a while now but it was working a little too well. May had walked into class and looked at the rose, instantly recognising it as one of Drew's roses. She'd asked me about it and I had given her a vague answer. Raven had come in a few minutes later, exclaiming how roses were a brilliant symbol of love and telling me that the guy who had given me the rose must really like me.

Second period: Drew and I had been talking in whispers while I told him my plan. He smirked at me, agreeing to play along. Raven was also clued in on the whole charade. She seemed confused at first but once we'd explained everything to her she seemed to get it. May had asked me why I was talking to Drew and I told her I was thanking him for the rose he gave me.

Third period: May wasn't with us, so Raven and I clued in Misty who was with us at the time. Misty rolled her eyes, muttering something about being stupid but she agreed to help us. After class, May demanded to know what had happened during class. Misty rambled about this and that, like she didn't really care.

Celeste and the boys joined us for lunch again. Drew sat near me and happily engaged in conversation with me. I glanced around at the table to see that Paul wasn't present.

"He went to eat lunch outside," Gary told me, "I don't know where he got lunch from though."

"He left me," Celeste bawled. Raven gave her an unsympathetic pat on the back.

"So," Drew said, starting off a conversation with me, "How often do you go to the lake?"

"Every morning," I replied, "I'm usually there for six-ish."

"Maybe one morning I'll be up early enough to join you," Drew laughed.

"Yeah, it would be nice for the company," I agreed. I felt a chill up my spine. I glanced across at May who was glaring at me. "Something wrong?"

May blushed and shook her head, the angry look on her face disappearing.

"You seen Brendan or something?" I asked.

"No," May replied, "I'll be right back."

She got up and left the table. I watched her walk across the lunch hall and disappear out of the door. The girls looked at me, confused to what had just happened. I giggled nervously.

"I think you over did it," Drew said dryly.

"I'll go and check on her," Misty said with a groan. Raven looked at Drew.

"No, Misty," Raven said, "Drew will go."

"Me?" Drew asked, "Why me?"

"Hey, Celeste has made me sit through more than one horrible teen love films," Raven replied dryly, "It's sure to work."

"Fine," Drew groaned, rising to his feet. He slowly walked to the exit and left us. Ash and Gary looked at Raven and me for an explanation but they would never get one.

~R~

"I can't believe you!" May yelled at me over dinner. I looked across the lounge at her, confused.

"What?" I asked.

"You. Flirting with Drew!" May shrieked, "You have any standards at all?"

"I wasn't flirting," I replied, "I was being nice."

"No, no," May said shacking her head at me, "Being nice is not having hushed conversations with boys or accepting flowers or inviting him for walks. That's FLIRTING!"

"Jeez, May," Misty said, "It's Drew and Dawn. Actually your names go very well together. Drew and Dawn, Dawn and Drew."

"They do," Leaf agreed. I giggled nervously.

"Honestly, there is nothing going on between Drew and I," I said. May stood up.

"You're not sleeping in my room tonight!" she yelled before taking her tray into our room and slamming the door. The three of us sat in a stunned silence for a few minutes until Misty started to laugh.

"Well, well," she said, "Looks like your plan's working, Dawn."

"Plan?" Leaf asked.

"To get Drew and May together," Misty explained. Leaf made a small 'o' shape with her mouth.

"I think it's worked too much though," I said with a sigh.

"You're telling me," Leaf agreed, "Even Gary and Paul were convinced you liked Drew."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah, Gary was telling Paul that you had the hots for Drew and Paul looked a bit annoyed. He didn't seem to care though," Leaf replied.

"He didn't?" I asked, feeling a little sad. Maybe he didn't care after all. Misty raised an eyebrow at me.

"You ok?" she asked. I nodded.

"If May dates Drew…" Leaf trailed off, a faint blush forming over her cheeks. Misty looked confused for a second before she realised what Leaf was thinking. She turned red. I giggled at the two girls. They looked at me, blushes reaching scarlet in colour. I jumped out of my seat and took my plate to the sink.

"So who am I rooming with tonight?" I asked. Misty and Leaf looked at each other.

"I'll move my stuff," Misty said, "I think I'll be able to calm May down a bit."

"OK," Leaf and I said. I looked at Leaf with a smile on my face.

"So, tell me more on your crush on Gary," I said. Leaf turned red.

"How… How did you know?" she squeaked. All I could do was laugh.

**This chapter is slightly Emma-ish (the Austen book) probably because I may have been watching at the time… Subconscious Austen, not good for my brain. Will May realise she likes Drew or will she go after Brendan? Why is Paul terrified of Dawn? And not scared of Celeste? No, it's not because 'he's weird'.**

**The next chapter is my favourite! It will be up on Sunday! I look forwards to it! Until then, read, review and eat lots of cake! Bye-bye *waves***

**RSx**


	7. Of Theories and Fights

**Chapter Seven! Woo! Well, this update is a little late but hey, it's still Sunday where I am (barely). First of all, thanks to my reviewers: ****AnimexLuver4Ever****, ****splitheart1120****, PortalFan, ****RaveOn21now22****, ****dattebayo4321****, ****xXCanaryXx**** and ****Animallovermlc3276****! You're great!**

**Secondly, I'd like to pause to give thoughts to people in Japan. It is truly horrific what has happened and my heart goes out to the families there. **

**Thirdly, I wish this chapter wasn't such a humorous chapter, giving what has happened in Japan but it was written about a month ago and is based on personal experience. You have to guess which part it is.**

**Please enjoy!**

**Chapter Seven: Of Theories and Fights**

Blue and purple swirled round me once more as I looked across a wide lake. I saw Suicune stood on the water, its purple hair flowing behind it. I walked to the water's edge and stared at Suicune.

"What do you want?" I asked. My voice echoed. Slightly unnerved by the echo, I glanced around. Suicune raised its head and stared at. I looked back at it, staring it in the eyes. I opened and closed my mouth a few times. I looked at the water, shocked to find that I was wearing my school uniform without any shoes. I placed one foot on the water's surface and stepped onto the water. I didn't sink. I looked back at Suicune and walked slowly towards it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I got closer to it. I stroked its head gently. "You're really beautiful."

The Suicune bowed its head. It was thanking me. I smiled.

"You are the one," it spoke but not through its mouth. I blinked. "You are the one who I choose."

"What for?" I asked. Suicune just stared at me. "What for?"

I fell out of bed. I opened my eyes groggily to see the wooden floor of Leaf and Misty's room. Temporarily forgetting I had switched rooms with Misty, I rubbed my head. I got up to see Leaf sleeping peacefully in her bed. I stretched wondering what on earth the dream was about.

It was weird walking to the lake later that morning. Six am and everything was so peaceful, but I didn't feel that peaceful. I felt annoyed, upset and confused over the dream I had that night. I let out a sigh as I got to the lake. I looked across the water and gasped. It was exactly like my dream. The water, the trees and wind. I walked to the lake's edge and looked into the crystal clear waters. I saw my reflection and my uniform.

I dumped my bag on the floor and slipped off my shoes. I threw my socks somewhere behind me. It was like the dream. I could hardly believe it. There was only one thing I had to do.

I put one foot on the water's surface. It was cold but comfortable. I pushed my weight onto my foot and fell forwards. I yelped.

Hands grabbed my shoulders and I was pulled backwards against a body. I shivered. There was a pause until I heard a long outtake of breath. I glanced behind me to see Paul holding me close to him. I yelped once more.

"What are you doing, Troublesome?" Paul asked. I sweat-dropped.

"Er… Testing a theory?" I replied. He gave me a look which seemed to say 'a theory? Of stupidity perhaps'. I laughed nervously, still aware he hadn't pulled me onto the ground properly. I was still in his arms, relying on him for support. I felt my cheeks rush with colour. Would he let me fall in the water or pull me back?

"Come on, Troubl-"

"Yo, Paul!"

Splash.

It was the first time I had ever known Paul jump. However due to the position we were stood in, the slight movement pushed both of us in the water. I felt Paul's arms wrap round my waist a split second before the cold, wet feeling of water hit me. Paul landed on top of me and I, somehow, had fallen on my back. Paul looked at me in surprise before looking behind him. I peered round him to see a thunder struck Drew stood by the tree line, his hand stuck up in the air like a wave. He seemed frozen for a moment until he rushed towards us.

"You two OK?" Drew asked. Paul rolled off of me and sat in the water like I was. The two of us seemed to mirror each other. Both sat on our bums with our knees up in the air and feet in the water, relying on our arms to hold up our upper body. We glanced at each other. Paul seemed to have forgotten his cold demeanour and looked as surprised as I was. His hair had gone darker from the water and his clothes were clinging to his body. Slowly Paul looked back at Drew, a scowl finally settling back on his face. He then did something totally un-Paul-ish. He kicked water at Drew.

"Idiot," he said in a defeated sort of tone.

~R~

"Really," I snorted as I was pushed through the door of the boys' zone, "It'll only take me a few minutes to get changed in my own apartment."

"No, no," Drew said, "And let the girls see you like this?"

He had a point. No doubt the other girls would ask me a hundred questions before letting me get changed. I sighed. This was the better alternative. Paul was walking at the side of me. His bangs were clinging to his face. I bet my hair was doing the exact same thing, but as it were, I didn't really care.

I glanced around the boys' zone. Ash was right when he said it was all technical. There was a huge TV screen projecting onto one of the walls, an escalator to the various floors and a few comfy looking chairs darted around the place. I blinked a few times as I saw what was on the TV screen. Pokémon battles live from Pokémon Gyms across the regions. Wow. Paul stopped at the bottom of the up escalator, realising I must have dropped behind. Drew was already on the floor above, walking towards the room. I rushed to Paul.

"It's totally different to the girls' zone," I told him as we went up the escalator, "How come you get these and we don't?"

Paul shrugged. We followed Drew towards the guys' apartment. Paul held the door open for me as I entered their home. The first thing I saw was Gary stood in his boxers and a vest top. He had his back to me, leaning on the kitchen side while eating his cereal and watching the small TV they had. Drew, Paul and I looked at him for a few seconds before Paul closed the door noisily behind him.

"You back already, Drew?" Gary asked. I started giggling to myself silently. Gary was wearing Luvdisc underwear with a grey top. The combination of them just seemed to be so out of character for the usually obnoxious playboy. Drew and Paul glanced at each other. Paul folded his arms, smirking.

"Yeah," Drew replied with a smirk on his face, "I found a friend as well."

"You dragged Paul back?" Gary asked, still refusing to look over at us, "Impressive."

"Not just Paul," Drew trailed off at the end. I couldn't help it, I burst into laughter. Gary jumped and twirled around. He tried to pull his top down over his boxers but it was no use.

"Jeez, Drew," Gary said, growing red in the cheeks, "You could have told me there was a girl here."

"Since when do you blush when a girl sees you in your underwear?" Paul asked, raising an eyebrow. Gary gave Paul a glare.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Paul," Gary muttered through gritted teeth. Suddenly he seemed to realise both Paul and I were soaking wet. He tilted his head to one side. "Why are you both wet?"

Paul and I glanced at each other before looking at Drew. Drew was rubbing his head.

"How was I supposed to know you two were stood that close to the water?" Drew asked, "I didn't even see Dawn until Paul was on top of her in the lake."

"Troublesome was being her usual troubling self," Paul told Gary.

"I told you, I was testing a theory!" I yelled.

"Of what?" Paul asked calmly.

"Of… Something!" I shouted back. Gary looked over at Drew and they both smirked. The door at the far end of the room opened. I went to look who was coming into the room when Paul clamped his hand over my eyes.

"Now that's just nasty, Ash," Gary said. Ash yelped, obviously seeing me stood there. I heard the door close a few seconds later with a snap. Paul removed his hand from my face. I looked at him confused.

"No body should have to see Ketchum first thing in a morning," Paul told me. He grabbed my arm and dragged me over to his room. We entered but Paul made sure to keep the door open. Drew followed us in.

"Sorry for the mess," he said. I looked round to see odds bits of clothing darted on the floor on the green side of the room. The purple side was clean and clutter free. Paul was rummaging through a wardrobe, I gathered to be his, for some clothes. He dropped some on his bed.

"You can wear those," he told me, holding a few more in his arms, "Leave your socks and skirt to dry on the radiator if you want. There's some shorts there if you want to wear them until your skirt dries out a bit."

"Thanks," I said. Paul brushed past me, dragging Drew out of the room and closing the door behind him. I shrugged and got changed as fast as I could. Outside the door I heard some commotion but I didn't really pay much attention to it. I pulled Paul's sweat-vest over my head and straightened up. I looked like a right mix of things. The shirt and sweat-vest were a little too baggy and the shorts didn't match the whole ensemble. I tied my hair up in a messy bun so it wouldn't drip onto my clothes. I put my skirt and socks on the radiator like Paul told me too and picked up the rest of my clothes from the floor. Without a second thought I walked out of the room into the lounge, momentarily forgetting this was the guys' home. I glanced up to see Drew and Gary in a pile on the floor, both groaning in pain. At least I hope it was pain. I looked towards Paul. He was shirtless. My eyes drifted across his well toned muscles and his hairless torso. His skin glowed with the dampness of his clothes. He casually pulled a shirt onto his arms but made no rush to button it up. I blushed as he glanced towards me. He paused for a second before hurriedly buttoning his shirt up.

"What happened to them?" I asked, hoping to take the attention away from me blushing. Paul glanced over at Gary and Drew.

"Never mind," Paul replied. He walked over to the kitchen and put the kettle on. Drew and Gary were starting to move on the floor. After a bit of wiggling they both got up and straightened themselves out. Gary was still wearing his boxers and t-shirt. Drew's hair was in a mess. They both glared at Paul before going into their rooms, slamming the doors behind them. Gary's door opened after a second or two and Ash was thrown out into the lounge. He landed face first on the wooden floor.

"Ow," Ash moaned. He slowly got up, rubbing his nose. "Hey, Dawn. Er… Sorry about before."

"About what?" I asked.

"Don't ask," Paul told me. Ash rubbed his head nervously.

"So what are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"Paul pushed me in the lake," I said bluntly.

"It's your fault we were near the lake in the first place," Paul snapped.

"Uh uh," I replied, "I was happily minding my own business."

"You were going to fall in the lake."

"You pushed me in 'cos Drew made you jump!"

"So it's my fault when I was trying to help you?"

"Yes."

Ash broke out into hysterics, making both Paul and I look at him. Ash slapped the table top hard as he continued to laugh. Drew walked out of his room (with his hair nicely in place again) to see what the commotion was all about. Gary walked out of his room to come and see what was going on, even though he was only half dressed. Thankfully it was the lower half that was clothed.

"What?" Paul and I asked at the same time in the same sort of tone. The three guys looked at each other.

"Paul's actually arguing with someone?" Gary asked.

"Not arguing, verbal banter," Drew corrected.

"Like old couples do," Ash stated. Paul scowled at them, his eye brow twitching.

"Yeah, yeah," Gary agreed, "Gramps used to fight all the time with Granma and then they'd go upstairs and-"

"Pervert," I cut in, "Really. Talking about your grandparents in front of a girl? I know your fantasies are sick and twisted but yuck, I thought you were better than that, Gary Oak."

Gary blushed. Drew and Ash chuckled. I turned to Paul.

"You're right, it wasn't your fault," I told him. I reached for a mug and filled it with water. Paul eyed me curiously as I held the cup in my hands.

"Really?" he asked, "Then whose fault is it?"

"Hmm," I replied, pretending to think, "Theirs'."

I threw the water at the three guys earning a yell from each of them in a chorus effect.

"Hey, I just changed!" Ash moaned.

"My trousers are wet!" Gary yelled.

"My hair!" Drew shrieked. Paul and I looked at each other before I fell into a fit of giggles while Paul just smirked. The guys seemed to recover quickly.

"THIS IS SO ON!" Gary yelled.

Needless to say, all five of us were late to the first lesson, all with wet uniforms.

**OK, it's still my favourite chapter! Just thought it would be nice to have some insight into the guys and how they live. Sort of. Anyway, please review me with your thoughts and comments. If u guess which part is my own experience then I will give you a cyber cookie *nods*.**

**Until Wednesday!**

**RSx**


	8. Of Shopping and Raids

**I just realised this is Chapter Eight and I have only written up to Chapter Fourteen… I must write more! I have a day off tomorrow so I shall write some more then! In the mean time, thanks to: splitheart1120, Animallovermlc3276, AnimeXLuver4Ever, Wowgurl, Lynx of Sand, xXCanaryXx and RaveOn21now22 for reviewing! Yay! Although I'm sad to say no one guessed right about my personal experience :( but xXCanaryXx came close ;) **

**Since the last chapter was so short, I decided to write a longer one (apparently, but I wrote it in January). So here we are:**

**Chapter Eight: Of Shopping and Raids**

The weekend was welcomed with open arms. The usual thing was to walk round Mahogany Town and today was no different. Misty was telling Leaf about some fishing lures she wanted to buy, while May was asking Raven what sort of sweets she should buy. Raven looked quite confused at all the different sweets May was saying. You never did realise how many different kind of sweets there were until you talked to May. I was hanging behind the group. May still refused to talk to me, especially since the other day when I walked in soaked with the boys. I got detention which meant my lunch that day was with the four and the teacher. May said I was flirting with Drew all the time and that's why she now hated me.

Raven glanced behind her to look at me. I smiled at the green haired girl. I sometimes wondered if Raven was going to replace me. The girls seemed to be getting along with her so well. Even though I'd known them for longer I couldn't but feel I was slowly being pushed aside.

I stopped to look in a window of a shop, calling out to the other girls to wait for me. Mahogany Dress Emporium was always such a nice shop to look in but the clothes were really expensive and were all fancy dresses. It was the place to get dance dresses from. I was looking at a pink dress in the window. I knew it wouldn't suit me but I loved the style of the bodice and how the skirt hung from the body.

"Wow," I commented, "Bets on who's going to get that dress for the Spring dance."

No body answered me. I glanced around to see that my friends had disappeared. I looked left and right quickly, wondering in what direction they had gone.

"It's not fair," I said finally as I failed to locate them, "I'm being replaced!"

"No wonder, you moan too much," Paul said as he came out of the shop next door to the Dress Emporium. He had a brown paper bag under one arm.

"Hey, Paul," I greeted, "Are you shopping?"

"Does it look like I'm shopping?" he asked, holding out the paper bag for me to see. I felt my shoulders sag as I let out a sigh. "Where are your annoying friends?"

"They left me," I replied.

"I can't say I don't blame them," he retorted. I folded my arms and stuck my nose up in the air.

"Well, then," I said. I turned on my heel and began to walk off in the direction I thought the other had gone in. I heard Paul following me, but when I glanced behind me I couldn't see him.

"Are you in the Monday raid?" he asked, appearing on my left side. I flinched but managed to nod.

"Everyone else seems to have the Wednesday raid," I said, "May, Misty and Leaf all have Wednesday but I'm stuck on Monday. This school really does hate me."

"Oak and I are on the Monday raid," Paul stated, "I'm thankful since last time it was Ketchum and me in the same group."

"Why do you call your friends by their surnames?" I asked. Paul shrugged.

"I just do," he replied.

"So do you call Misty, Waterflower? Or May, Maple?" I asked.

"I call them Carrot Top and Bandana," he replied, "And Leaf."

"How come you call Leaf, Leaf?" I asked.

"I used to call her Crazy Sugar Rush Girl," he told me, "But it took too long to say, so she became 'Leaf'."

"And I'm Troublesome?" I said. Paul nodded. "Then what do you call Raven?"

"Weird," Paul said. I smiled at him. "What's with the questions anyway?"

"I just wondered," I said with a shrug, "You're hard to figure out."

"Do you like Drew?" he asked suddenly, stopping in his tracks. I stopped and looked at him.

"Why do you ask?" I asked.

"Do you like him?" Paul repeated. I shook my head.

"I don't like him more than a friend," I replied honestly, "It's just that Drew likes May but May likes Brendan so I pretended to like Drew so that May would get jealous and like Drew instead."

Paul raised an eyebrow as he tried to digest this information. Finally he just shook his head.

"You're an idiot you know," he told me.

"And so are you," I snapped, "I mean you have all these girls who like you and you don't pick one. Don't you like anyone?"

"I do like someone," Paul stated. I did a double take. Paul _liked_ someone? For some reason that just didn't make sense in my brain. Paul and like? No, the two didn't go together at all. The idea of Paul and a girl being together made a smile crawl onto my face. Soon I was cackling with laughter. Paul raised an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry," I said between laughs, "But… I can't imagine you being all lovey with a girl."

"Then you see my problem then," he said dryly.

"I'm sure that she likes you too," I said quickly, "I mean you may be grumpy and mean and a little weird, but there's some good points about you."

"Such as?" he asked.

"You've got purple hair," I said, "Girls like purple. And you're strong."

"That's it?" he asked, smirking, "And here I thought girls were complicated."

"Well…" I replied, "I know you are nice and kind and clever and weird and funny and argumental and stubborn and loyal, but the girl you like might not know that."

Paul paused before he shook his head. He began walking once more.

"So does Bandana know you're playing on her emotions?" he asked. I shook my head.

"She's stubborn so she won't admit she likes Drew even though it's painfully obvious to us," I replied, "I wish she'd just admit it. I don't like acting like I'm one of Drew's fangirls. Everything's so complicated! And what's worse is that I think the girls are slowly leaving me behind."

"If you keep stopping to look in shops then they will leave you," Paul stated.

"Not like that," I said, "I mean with Raven and everything. They seem to like her more than me. I mean I do keep them out of the loop and I'm never there in a morning. I don't really talk to them like I used to. I'm not such a good friend, either. I'm selfish. It's like I'm turning into a loner without me knowing it."

"I think you're over analysing everything," Paul said, "People are weird. Maybe because you're pushing one of your friends the others will play along with that. Because Bandana loathes you, the others probably think it's wiser to go with the hot head to avoid more conflict. Leaf hates fighting, she hides all the time. And Carrot Top is scary when she's mad."

"You might be right," I chirruped, "By the way. Does Gary like Leaf?"

"You move on conversations pretty quick don't you?" Paul asked sarcastically.

"Does he?" I asked but Paul remained silent, "Does he? Does he? Does he?"

"How should I know?" Paul snapped. I squealed making Paul sweat-drop.

"He does!" I yelled. I danced round Paul for a few seconds.

"Are you going to play matchmaker with them too?" Paul asked.

"No," I replied, pointing at him, "You are! You're going to tell Gary how you over heard Leaf saying how much she liked him."

"While I'm at it, I'll tell Ketchum that the Carrot Top digs immature prime apes and should get in there," Paul said with a roll of his eyes. I knew he was being sarcastic but I wasn't going to let this go. I clung onto Paul's arm.

"Please, please, please, please?" I asked. Paul sighed.

"Fine," he snapped, "But that's all I'm going to do."

"Thanks, Paul," I said happily, letting go of Paul's arm, "Maybe if this goes to plan I may be able to help you with your girl problems."

Paul looked at me with a face like thunder: "I don't need _your_ help."

"Sorry," I said, rubbing my head, "I didn't mean to be so hasty."

"I need to get back," Paul stated. I grabbed Paul's elbow just as he went to cut in front of me. He stopped walking so he could glare back at me.

"I didn't mean to offend you," I muttered, "I just want to help."

I let go of Paul and slowly put my hands behind my back. There was an awkward moment where nothing was said or done. I was staring at the floor, wishing that Paul would hurry up and leave already. I could feel Paul's eyes burning into my head.

"It's fine," Paul said finally. He turned and began to walk away. A pang of sorrow and pain ripped through my heart. I stayed in my spot for a few minutes, trying to fight back tears. I said too much. I'm such an idiot. Why did I have to go off like that? I looked up to see that Paul had disappeared. I was half way through debating whether to turn back or not when I saw Raven out of the corner of my eye. She rushed towards me.

"There you are," she said cheerfully. Her expression dropped when she saw my face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied, "Where is everyone?"

"They went into the sweet shop with May," Raven replied, pointing towards the small shop a little further down the road. "Are you sure you're OK?"

"I'm fine," I said, wiping my eyes, "I just said something I regret that's all."

"What did you say?" Raven asked.

"I told Paul I might be able to help him get the girl he likes," I said, "But it was stupid 'cos he doesn't want my help. Now he thinks I'm an idiot."

"Dawn," Raven said. Her tone was serious but she was smirking. "It's Paul. He thinks everyone is an idiot. Besides, it's something he's touchy about. You know what guys are like. They like to pretend they're cool when really they're all squishy inside."

I giggled.

"Paul, squishy?" I asked. Raven nodded. She beckoned me closer as if she wanted to tell me a secret. I leant towards her, feeling her hand cup my ear.

"He's the squishiest," Raven whispered, "But don't tell anyone."

I laughed as we straightened up. Raven was smiling at me.

"You seem to know people so well," I said, "How do you do it?"

"When you accept who you are, everything becomes clearer," she replied, "And I accepted myself a long time ago. Now lets go stop May from buying the entire shop."

We failed.

~R~

I put my black hat on my head and looked at myself in the mirror. Our raid uniform was different from our usual uniform. Firstly there was a black hat that we were told to wear so we could tuck our hair out of sight. Then there was a white neckerchief that was tied at the back. Girls were told to wear a black skirt that had been specially designed so we could move freely. The skirt had shorts sown underneath so that we could jump and do acrobatics without risking our modesty. I liked the skirt. The top was long sleeved and had the large obnoxious red 'R' on the front. Then there was white elbow high gloves and white knee high boots. I picked up three pokéballs from the side and attached them to a belt. We were only allowed a maximum of four but I usually took three since they were the most useful out of my party.

I walked out of the room into the lounge where the other three were relaxing. They looked at me for a split second before May went back to her magazine with a huff.

"Good luck," Misty said.

"Thanks," I replied as I headed for the door. I stepped out into the hallway, thinking how weird this felt since I usually had someone to come with me. I walked down the stairs then out of the building. I glanced towards the boys' entrance and saw Gary and Paul emerging wearing the same uniform as I was apart from they had trousers on and their boots were only ankle high, likewise their gloves only went to their wrists. Paul saw me and waited for me to catch up.

"Hey, Dawn," Gary greeted me, "Where's your friend?"

"It's just me tonight," I replied, "Everyone else has got Wednesday instead."

"Bummer," Gary commented, "Ah well, you'll just have to stick close to Paul and me then."

"It's ok," I said, "I'll probably only get in your way."

"No it's fine," Gary argued, "Right, Paul? She can stay with us, can't she?"

"It is probably better to have her close," Paul agreed, "No doubt she'll get herself into trouble."

"Because I'm Troublesome," I said, "Ha ha. Really, you should get a new joke."

Paul rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the school. Gary hung back with me. He looked nervous about something but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

"So," he said with a drawn out 'o' sound, "How's the girls?"

"They're fine," I replied, "But May's still not talking to me."

"Good, good," Gary said with a nod, "How's Leaf?"

"Leaf?" I asked, my eyes darting towards Paul then back to Gary, "Why would you want to know about her?"

"Well," Gary spluttered, "You see… Isn't it her birthday soon?"

"Yes," I told him, "Next week."

"What do you think she will like?" Gary asked.

"Hmm…" I said thinking, "I'm making her a candy cake and I'm getting her some bits and bobs. Why?"

"Well, I was hoping you may be able to help me find something for her," Gary explained. He blushed. "From all of the guys, you know. We're sort of friends."

"I didn't realise you got 'sort of friends' presents," I commented. Gary blushed a deeper colour. I glanced round to see that Paul was now walking on my other side, looking amused by how uncomfortable Gary was. Finally Gary took in a deep breath.

"OK, I like her," Gary said, his blush now crimson, "And I want to get her something really nice for her birthday. Is that wrong or something?"

"Do you want to help me throw a surprise party?" I asked, growing excited, "In our room? I'm sure that Misty and May would be able to keep her busy while we get stuff sorted out. Raven will help too."

"A party?" Gary asked. I nodded. Gary broke out into a large smile. "Sounds great. You can bake that cake round at ours if you like."

"Really?" I asked, looking at Paul. Paul nodded. "Thank you! Paul, you have to come too. Drew and Ash as well. I'll have to tell Lyra-chan and Raven."

"But what should I get her as a present?" Gary asked.

"In town there's this shop," I replied.

"It's a town, it has many shops," Paul interrupted. I glanced at him, sticking out my tongue. I returned back to Gary.

"The jewellery shop," I went on, "Believe it or not but Leaf really likes jewellery as long as it's not too girly."

"I thought the whole reason for jewellery was so girls could be girly," Paul muttered. OK, now I was annoyed at him. I stuck out my foot. He tripped over, landing on the floor with an 'hmph' noise. Gary and I continued to walk on ignoring the fact Paul had fallen over. Gary glanced over his shoulder to watch Paul behind him.

"There's this nice leaf necklace on black string," I went on, causing Gary to look at me, "It's like green and shiny. She'll love it."

"You sure?" Gary asked. I nodded. "Alright then. We have to do extra well tonight so I can get her that necklace!"

"You two are pathetic," Paul commented as he caught up with us. He dusted off his chest nonchalantly. Suddenly, Gary leaned across me and grabbed Paul by the top. They stopped dead in their tracks as they glared at each other. I blinked a few times wondering what was going on. I had never seen Gary as the violent guy but the look on his face was scary.

"Listen you," Gary snapped, "I'm actually man enough to do something about the girl I like. What have you done in the three years you've liked yours?"

"Get off," Paul said, remarkably calm.

"Not until you take that back," Gary snarled. Paul looked very unimpressed and did not move. The two seemed to glare at each other for the longest time until I shivered. Paul glanced at me.

"Troublesome?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Gary slowly looked at me.

"Dawn," he said, emphasising my name, "You should go and find Lyra-senpai while I have a heart to heart with Paul."

I walked round them and walked ahead. I was slightly concerned for Paul's welfare but I had an inkling that Gary would be the one worst off. I shuddered as I heard someone yell behind me but I decided not to look back. I saw Lyra-chan stood with Silver. I walked up to them, bowing my head to Silver in respect.

"Hello, Lyra-chan," I greeted Lyra. Lyra smiled at me.

"Dawn, how are you?" she asked, "Where's the girls?"

"It's only me tonight," I replied, "I was walking with Paul and Gary but they were arguing."

"That's strange," Silver stated, "Out of the three of them, I wouldn't expect Paul to argue with Gary."

"Unless it was about a girl," Lyra said. Silver nodded.

"How are you anyway? I thought Paul had to take you to the nurse earlier this week?" Silver asked, "I hope you're OK for tonight."

"I'm fine, thank you, Silver-senpai," I replied, holding up my arms, "My arms don't hurt anymore. It wasn't as bad as Paul thought."

"Good," Silver said. He looked over me. Lyra and I turned to see what he was looking at. Paul was walking towards us, holding his hat in his hands. He stopped in front of us and began to put it back on his head. A few seconds later Gary appeared. His hands were behind his back and his neckerchief was covering one of his eyes. His hat was in his mouth. I glanced at Paul, figuring this was the outcome to their fight.

Lyra was the one to help Gary. She looked at him in a confused way as she realised his hands had been tied behind his back by his belt. Once his hands were free, Gary sorted himself out. He glared at Paul as he straightened his neckerchief. Paul rolled his eyes and looked at Silver.

"What is tonight's job?" he asked the prefect.

"It's a simple in, out job," Silver explained, "I'm counting on you two to help me. We have a new student with us."

"This doesn't look promising," Paul commented. I felt that way too. I think deep down we would've been disappointed if we had looked round to see someone else walking towards us but for now all the three of us could think was: why us?

Celeste, not being psychic, couldn't have known that the faces we pulled were not one of welcoming. They were ones of certain doom.

~R~

Couched in some foliage outside a warehouse just outside Cherrygrove City, I waited for Gary to give orders. Beside me was Celeste who seemed to be thoroughly excited about the raid. I wasn't going to even deny I was hating the current situation. Paul returned a few seconds later and quickly told Gary what he'd seen on his perimeter sweep. Gary nodded. He looked at Celeste and me.

"We need to think this through carefully," Gary told us in a hushed whisper, "I think the best way would be for us to split up."

"Can I be with Paul?" Celeste asked. Gary shot her a dark look.

"Ssh," he hushed. Celeste bit her lip. "Troublesome, you take care of Madame Caramel here."

"OK," I said with a nod.

"I'll take one way while Grumpy takes another," Gary went on. Paul nodded. "Wait here and radio us if you see anyone coming here. Troublesome, if you can, teach Madame Caramel some simple perimeter stuff."

"Sure thing," I agreed with a nod.

"Troublesome, if Madame Caramel is too much of a handful just use your chlorophyll and prop her up against a tree somewhere," Paul said airily. I bit my lip to stop myself laughing while Celeste's bottom lip trembled.

"One more thing," I said quickly. I looked at Gary. "Who are you?"

"Just make something up if you need me," Gary said, "Hopefully you won't need to get in touch."

"OK," I said, "Good luck."

The boys expertly disappeared from in front of us, heading towards the warehouse at a face speed. I looked at Celeste and offered a smile. I sat down on the floor and pulled out a small handheld computer from my belt. Celeste watched me carefully as I scrolled through some things on the screen.

"So all we do is wait?" Celeste asked. I nodded.

"They'll need someone to watch the perimeter," I explained, "And since you've never done that before, I'll have to teach you."

"Can it be so hard?" Celeste asked. I shook my head.

"It's pretty basic but this is your first raid," I replied, checking the screen of the handheld in my hand, "Since you've never done anything like this before, it's best if I take you through the motions. Come on."

I jumped to my feet and began to walk through the undergrowth with Celeste not far behind me. We walked round to the front. I dropped down behind some tall grass. Celeste ran up to me and crouched beside me. I pointed at the door.

"See the entrance route is clear so there's nothing to report there," I told Celeste, "But if there were suddenly two guards there, I would have to phone it in."

"OK," Celeste said slowly.

"Look," I said suddenly pointing past the building. I pushed Celeste's head down a bit lower as a car came down the dirt track by the side of the warehouse. I watched as eleven men got out of the car. I put a finger on my earpiece, turning it on.

"Grumpy, Leaf Lover," I said in a whisper, "Eleven men have just pulled up in a car. Nine are coming your way."

"Leaf Lover?" Gary's voice replied, "What kind of a name is that?"

"Troublesome," Paul's voice said, "Watch the other two out your way. We may need them gone."

"I'll get right on it," I said. I pulled out a small pair of binoculars and watched the two guards for a few seconds. They were wearing black clothes, suits in fact, holding semi automatics. They were both tall lads and were cool looking with sunglasses on. I pulled a face as I passed the binoculars to Celeste. She paused before looking through them at the two men.

"Wow," she said in a surprised whisper, "We have to get rid of them?"

"Yeah," I replied. I rubbed my chin for an answer. I had to get closer to them, but how? I smiled to myself. "Celeste, stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I walked through the undergrowth, making sure to keep out of sight until I was closer to the men. I pulled one of my pokéballs off of my belt and released Cyndaquil. I hushed it before it could great me.

"Can you wonder out there and distract them for me?" I asked it. It nodded. "And when they come close to you, use smokescreen, 'K?"

"Cynda," it said and began on its way to the guards. As I watched my brave Pokémon walk towards the guards, Gary's voice came over the radio.

"Grumpy, they're heading towards you," Gary said.

"I see them," Paul replied, "They have the goods."

I went back to watching Cyndaquil, half glad that Celeste decided to keep radio silence. The guards seemed to react like I thought they would when they saw Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil acted cute as the guards went over to see if it had an owner. As soon as they were close enough to my Cyndaquil it used smokescreen. The men disappeared in a thick black smog. My turn now.

With the great speed and agility I had learnt in the Academy I rushed forwards into the smoke. I swiftly karate chopped one of them and swept the other's feet from under him. Then I doused their jackets with Chlorophyll, instantly making them sleepy. They were asleep in a matter of minutes. The smoke disappeared.

"Thanks, Cyndaquil," I said as I returned my Pokémon. I looked round for a suitable hiding place for the guards. I quickly dragged them towards the bushes and laid them there. Of course it was a two trip job since I couldn't lift both at once. They were too heavy. Panting slightly, I rushed back to Celeste.

"I'm impressed," she commented. I nodded.

"Leaf Lover," Paul's voice said over the radio. There was a siren in the background. "Come in, Leaf Lover. Damnit."

"Grumpy?" I asked.

"Something's set off the alarm," Paul explained, "I doubt it was you. Leaf Lover's disappeared from my view and I can't get through to him."

I whipped out my handheld computer and quickly typed on the key pad. Gary was somewhere in the building. I saw his earpiece light up on my screen.

"He's on vector three, floor two," I told Paul.

"I see him," Paul replied, "Great. Base control, we have a problem. Please advise me on how to act. Base control, please respond."

I looked at Celeste who looked worried. My heart was racing. Paul and Gary were in trouble.

"They've got Gary and his earpiece," I said adjusting my own as I heard Paul attempt to talk to base control. "Which means we're working deaf now. These are useless so don't use them."

"What do we do now?" Celeste asked.

"You stay here…" I trialled off as I saw the car not too far away from the front entrance. I looked at Celeste and smiled. "You want to hot wire a car?"

"That I can do," Celeste said.

"Get it to the back entrance in," I said as I checked my watch, "Fourteen minutes. Sync watches…" I waited for her to get to her watch, "Now."

I was off. Getting into the building wasn't going to be too hard, I hoped anyway. All the personnel had been moved from their posts to deal with the problem of Gary and Paul. These people were idiots, but at this moment in time I loved idiots. I proceeded to the back of the warehouse, following my handheld to lead me to Gary.

I went up three floors so I had a bird's eye view of the situation. According to my blue prints, the third level was a balcony rather than a proper floor which would mean I could see what was going on below me.

There was a perfect place to go even though it looked a little dicey. It was a flimsy length of metal that hung across the warehouse, suspended in mid air by steel wire. There was no other choice. I walked along the balcony silently when I heard the voice in my head.

"I know you're up there, boy," it was one of the warehouse owners or boss. Whoever had Gary anyway. "I see you hiding in the shadows."

I glanced over to where I imagined Paul to be. He was looking at the boss too much to have noticed me. Slightly glad about this I continued along the balcony, dropped soundlessly to my knees so I wouldn't risk casting a shadow below me.

"Come on down and join your friend," the boss was taunting.

"Get out!" Gary yelled suddenly. The boss looked at Gary and hit him roughly with a stick he held in his hand. By the time he looked back up, Paul was gone from his hiding place. I took it that he had spotted me because he soon appeared in my eye line. He beckoned me to go a little bit further and then held up his hands for me to stop. Once still, I reached into my belt and pulled out two smoke bombs. Carefully twisting them, I waited for Paul to give me the signal. He nodded at me and I rolled them either side of the balcony. There were panicked voices before gun fire started. I decided to move rather than chance a bullet, so I crawled as soundlessly as I could towards the way I came.

Bullets crashed through the metal behind me. I suppressed a yelp as one nicked my side. I paused to check the damage when I was suddenly aware of the balcony creaking. Not good. I rushed as fast as I could towards the end but the balcony collapsed too quickly for me. Half of it fell. I suddenly found I was dangling from an edge, unable to move. I tried to pull myself up but it was no use. My side was bleeding far too much for me to use any upper body strength. As I cursed in my head I heard the boss talk once again.

"So you have a girlfriend, boy," he said, "It's a shame she'll be dead in a few seconds. Hang on little girl. Maybe I could look after you."

"Go to hell perv," I shouted. I knew he could hear me.

"Aim for the end of that balcony," the boss said. My blood ran cold. He was telling Paul what he was going to do. I saw Paul come to the end where the boss' men were aiming. Paul didn't seem to care as he slid along the metal, equally distributing his weight on the flimsy material. I mouthed 'no' at him but he paid no attention. He grabbed my arms and slowly began to pull me up.

"I've got you," Paul told me as he continued to pull me up. I wrapped my arms round his neck as he pulled me up. It made my heart jump when I rested my head on his shoulder. Soon I was safely sat on the metal. Without thinking I drew another smoke bomb, my last, from my belt, twisted it and threw it at the men below in one fluid movement. Paul looked relieved as we dashed from the area.

"Clever, clever," the boss taunted as we ran down a hallway, "But you leave us bread crumbs, little girl."

I looked down at my side. That was true. Blood was dripping onto the floor as I ran. I stopped running and implored Paul for an answer. He pulled out a pen knife from his own belt. He opened it and slashed his palm.

"You go that way," he told me, "I'll go this way."

"Madame Caramel is waiting round back with some transportation," I told him before we parted ways. I ran down a corridor, trying to keep my breathing and footsteps to a limited sound but the breathing wasn't obeying much. The tear in my side was taking its toll on me. I stopped as I heard someone come towards a door near me. I ducked beside the door, ready to attack whoever appeared.

I dropped my guard when I saw it was Gary. He looked just as relieved to see me as I was to see him.

"Where's Grumpy?" he asked.

"Taking a detour," I replied, glancing at my watch, "Back entrance, three minutes."

"Alright," Gary said and we set off at a sprint once again. A few corridors and flights of stairs later we came across the back door. It was alarmed. Gary and I looked at each other.

"How did Grumpy get in without setting it off?" Gary asked. No sooner as he asked did Paul suddenly join us.

"We have company," he stated. I looked at my watch. Thirty seconds. I heard footsteps come towards us. The boys stood up as we were surrounded by people with guns.

"Well, well," the boss said, "Is this all the Rockets can do? Send three children? Pathetic."

Twenty seconds.

"I'll send a message to your bosses," the boss continued, "With your bodies of course."

Ten.

"It's such a shame, I hate killing children," he went on.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

"Goodbye," he said. I opened the door setting off the alarm. The three of us rushed out as bullets shot at where we just were. Celeste was waiting with the car. We jumped in the back of the long car and then we were off. Gary let out a relieved sigh as we went out of the range of bullets.

"Pull over when you can, Celeste," Gary said, "I'll take over."

"Roger," Celeste replied with a mock salute. Paul pushed me along the seat so he could get a better look at my wound. I noticed his still bleeding hand. I pulled a handkerchief from my belt and pressed it into his bloody palm.

"That belt is meant for standard equipment," he told me as he tied it tightly around his hand.

"It is standard," I replied, "I'm usually paired with May or Leaf."

Gary chortled with laughter. Paul didn't smirk though. As soon as his hand was sorted he went back to seeing what he could do with mine.

"I need water," he said before eyeing a glass bottle filled with clear liquid. I had little experience with limos but I knew that the liquid was most definitely not water. Gary sniggered as Paul dosed my wound with, what smelt like, vodka. I grimaced.

"If I get drunk, I'm blaming you," I told Paul. Paul managed a small smirk as he took off his neckerchief and pressed it against the wound. Gary passed him some string he had fished from his belt. Paul muttered a 'thanks' but just before he could use it, the car came to a stop. Celeste opened the driver's door and got out of the car. Gary jumped to get out of the back so he could replace Celeste. I was half expecting Celeste to join us in the back but she didn't. Instead, she sat in the passenger side next to Gary. Paul managed to tie the neckerchief onto my side once Gary had taken over the driving.

"That was pretty stupid back there," I scolded him. Paul glanced up at me before finishing the knot. He sat back on the floor. I slowly sat up. I swung my legs over the side of the seat so I could sit properly. I leant back into the comfortable, leather material. "You could have died, Paul."

"So could you," he replied as he rubbed his eyes with his good hand. We sat in silence for a few minutes until Paul looked up at me. "Thank you for helping me."

"It's my job," I said, "Besides, leaving you and Gary behind when Gary's going to confess to Leaf was a no option."

"I suppose," Paul agreed with a nod, "But I really appreciate it all the same."

"No problem," I said. We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Paul stood up and sat beside me.

"You should probably get some rest," he told me. I nodded. Slowly and painfully, I swung my feet back onto the seat and laid down. Paul moved his hand so I could rest my head on his lap. Paul put his hand on my shoulder to stop me falling off the seat. "Tell me more about this surprise party then."

**XD Paul does know how to be nice… Sometimes… Anyway, I've updated in plenty of time tonight. I skipped out on rehearsals, just for you… And because the weather was hazardous for driving. Minor details. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next one shall be on Sunday! Til then!**

**Oh, I will add that my computer is broke at the minute but I am determined to update on Sunday so no need to worry! … Didn't mean to quote Dawn there…**

**RSx**


	9. Of Parties and Acceptance

**Sorry this is late T_T Not my fault, fanfic wouldn't let me update any sooner. I followed some advice on Yahoo and ran away quite quickly... But here it is! **

**Thanks to my reviewers: ****Animallovermlc3276, splitheart1120, , AnimeXLuver4Ever, Frozen Kiwijuice, xXCanaryXx, RaveOn21now22, Cecilia Beth and WoWgurl. You're all ace! I like that word: Ace. Don't know why…**

**So on with the show… or rather, story. I'm feeling a little mean today ;) I may have to act upon my meaness :o **

**Disclaimer: Me no own Pokémon. If I did there would be ikarishipping and Paul and Dawn would have their own spin off show.**

**Chapter Nine: Of Parties and Acceptance**

I was sat on the guys' sofa on Wednesday night while the girls were out on their raid. Ash and Drew had gone on Tuesday and were tired from capturing a low level but highly annoying fugitive. Raven was sat across from me on the floor. She also had been on Tuesday so she was happily relaxing. She was leafing through a magazine full of decoration ideas since she loved to handle bits and bobs like that. Drew looked bored as he looked over a text book and Ash looked equally as bored as he looked over a copy of the same textbook. Gary was out at the minute, probably shopping for Leaf's present. He didn't want to leave it until the last minute so he had gone straight from school.

Paul walked out of his room wearing casual clothes. Like the others he was wearing non-uniform clothes and it struck me as weird to see him like this. He was wearing a teal, high neck, long sleeved shirt with some grey jeans. He came and sat down beside me. He looked across at Raven who was wearing black jeans and a sapphire coloured top then at me. I smiled at him briefly before my attention returned to my own homework.

"I give up!" Drew yelled suddenly, throwing his text book behind him. It landed with a bang a few feet behind the sofa. Paul looked unimpressed. "I don't understand this at all!"

"Same here," Ash agreed as he slowly let his own textbook drop onto the floor. Paul rolled his eyes. Ash was wearing a black t-shirt with blue cargo jeans, looking kind of goofy with a baseball hat on his head. On his shoulder sat his ever faithful Pikachu who didn't seem too impressed by the loud clatter of the textbooks hitting the floor. Drew was wearing a purple long sleeved top underneath a lighter purple jacket. He also was wearing green trousers. Raven glanced up at the two of them, smiling brightly.

"You want to help plan this party?" she asked.

"I think it should be themed," Drew stated without a moments pause, "Like we pick something Leaf likes and do that for her."

"Like?" Paul asked.

"Green," Ash replied, "She likes green. Maybe we should have a green party!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Paul said. I closed my textbook and shuffled uncomfortably. I grimaced as I accidentally leant too far. Pain twinged in my side. Paul looked at me cautiously, instantly steadying me by placing a hand on my shoulder. Ash and Drew were too busy bickering over what the theme should be to notice me. Raven, however, was watching both of us carefully.

"I'm fine," I told Paul as the pain faded back to its usual ebb.

"How about candy," Paul asked, "Leaf's awfully fond of candy."

"She is," I agreed, "We could make candy food like ice cream sandwiches."

"That's going to be huge sugar rush," Drew commented.

"I like it," Raven said, "The decorations will be awesome."

"Toffee apples, chocolate strawberries," I listed, making a note on some blank paper.

"You and fruit," Paul said, "Are you going to add sugared berries too?"

"Leaf loves toffee apples," I informed Paul, "So it's not for me. I'll also put down pancake rolls, buns, sweets, jello and candy necklaces."

"We could make her a candy crown," Ash said, "Made out of sugar paper and icing and stuff."

"Yeah," Drew agreed, "And then there's gingerbread and cakes and those cream puff thingies."

"Profiteroles?" Paul asked.

"Yeah," Drew replied, "Put them on some rock and then they can be profiterole drumsticks."

"I can make them from scratch," Paul said, "So I could make them slightly bigger than normal ones."

"And I know how to make marzipan treats and also my own chocolates," Raven said.

"And poffins," I said, "For the Pokémon."

"How about food sparklers? They're cool," Drew said.

"Troublesome, didn't you say you were doing her a Candy Cake?" Paul asked. I nodded.

"I was also going to make some honeycomb since she likes that too," I replied.

"Awww, man," Ash said suddenly, clutching his stomach, "All this talk of food is making me hungry!"

~R~

I pushed two cake tins into the oven and groaned as I stood up. Gary glanced over at me as he carefully whisked some cream in a bowl. I flashed him a reassuring smile before I walked towards the sofa. May and Drew had been given the job of distracting Leaf for the night since they were deemed the worst cooks. Misty was helping Raven make chocolates in various shapes and sizes. I had no idea where Raven had got all this stuff from but it was simply amazing. Ash was carefully constructing a candy crown with Pikachu's help. I wouldn't mind but Pikachu seemed to be doing a better job than Ash. Still I had to admire Ash for trying his best. Paul was busy doing stuff in the kitchen. I wondered back over to the kitchen.

"Do you want me to do anything?" I asked Paul.

"Do you want to do the toffee apples?" he said pointing at the apples on the side. I nodded and began to wash them under the cold tap.

"Man this is going to be great," Gary said, "Leaf is going to love her surprise party."

"You'd better not be doing this so you can get in her pants," Misty told Gary.

"Of course not," Gary replied, "I'm doing this because she means a lot to me. It's a symbol of my affection for her."

"Food poisoning isn't a symbol of affection," Paul told him. Gary glared at Paul as he continued to whisk the cream. I suppressed a giggle as Gary started to mutter under his breath about ungrateful friends. I looked at Paul. He was hard at work making pastry for the profiteroles. I watched him with amazement as he cooked so well. In no time at all he had the pastry done and plopped in the oven. I took over the oven for the next ten minutes as I made the toffee for my toffee apples. It was simple really but Paul still hovered around me, just in case I needed help.

"Dawn," Misty said as she walked over to me, "Raven and I are done with the chocolates."

"Stick them in the fridge," Paul told her, "It'd be best to keep them cold."

Misty nodded and did as she was told. Paul turned to Gary.

"You'd best keep Ketchum away from the fridge tonight," Paul said. Gary nodded.

"Already planned that," Gary said, "But it's between me and Pikachu."

I was slightly intrigued by Gary's statement but more pressing matters came when the toffee started to smoke. I instantly took it off the heat and began dunking my apples into it. While I had been cooking, Paul had been putting the apples onto wooden sticks. He passed me one at a time to save me from reaching for them. After the last one was done, he checked the cake and profiteroles. Paul and I worked like a well oiled machine when it came to baking things. We easily worked around each other and helped each other as we did our separate things. This didn't go unnoticed to Gary, Raven and Misty who spent most of their free time watching Paul and I work.

Finally at ten pm, everything was done. Raven had long since gone back to her room and Misty was dozing on the sofa. Gary had successfully locked Ash in the bathroom with his duvet, pillow and Pikachu. Paul was washing up while I was drying. Drew walked into the apartment, looking quite worn out but otherwise cheerful. His eyes were quite red and puffy.

"What's wrong?" I asked, making Paul look at his roommate.

"It's nothing," Drew replied, "Those damn girls."

"What did you do?" Paul asked.

"It wasn't me, OK," Drew snapped, "It was May and Leaf… They made me watch P.S. I Luvdisc You, Four Happinys and a Froslass and Grimer Dancing. A man can only take so much!"

"Well, next time we'll find a man and send him in," I replied. Drew glared at me.

"Have you ever seen P.S. I Luvdisc You?" Drew asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Then you know how painfully said it is!" Drew yelled, "It's so sad."

"Not really," I said with a shrug, "I thought it was bitter sweet but not sad."

"You're weird!" Drew shouted before storming off into his room. I chuckled as Drew slammed the door behind him. Misty stirred from her sleep and groggily wandered into the kitchen.

"Are you done yet?" she asked.

"Just a few more things to dry," I replied. After drying two more items I placed the towel on the side and turned to my friend. "There."

"I think we should go," Misty said with a stretch, "Before May and Leaf get suspicious."

"OK," I replied. Paul nodded and led us to the door. To my surprise he followed us out of the front door. "You don't have to walk us to a door that's next door, idiot."

"I don't want you getting mobbed by fan girls," Paul replied. Misty let out a sigh.

"I hope, Dawn," she said, "That after May and Drew are together and Gary and Leaf are together, you won't try to get me and Ash together."

"I am not helping anyone else find love," I declared, "Apart from myself."

"Good," Misty snapped.

"But," I added, "If I feel like something needs to be meddled with then I shall meddle!"

"Great," Misty moaned, "But I don't want to be stuck with Ash! He's such a dweeb."

"Maybe you should pair with Paul then," I suggested. Paul and Misty looked at each other, unimpressed at the suggestion.

"I'd pick Ash, no offence," Misty said.

"None taken," Paul replied, "I think I'd pick Ketchum over you."

"Now that's just mean," Misty snapped. I giggled quietly as we walked out of the building. As we walked round to the other door we saw Silver talking to Wyre.

"I told you Silver, this isn't going to do. Raven's much too engrossed with those girls to take full responsibility for why we were sent here," Wyre spat at Silver. Wyre glanced over at the three of us and instantly stopped talking. We stopped in our tracks so we could greet the prefect and Wyre but neither seemed to want us to stick around. Silver suddenly glanced at me, then at Paul.

"I thought curfew started at ten, Paul," Silver snapped, "Why is your girlfriend and her friend just leaving you now?"

"Curfew doesn't start until half past," Paul replied.

"Paul," Wyre said, suddenly very interested in him, "You're one of the school's best, right? You've got strong Pokémon and you're well trained as a Rocket. Maybe I can make use of you, if you care to join an important mission."

"I'm not really interested in joining any extra missions," Paul replied. Wyre clicked his tongue in annoyance. Misty and I looked at each other, confused by Wyre's behaviour. Silver's expression was grim. I couldn't help but feel that Wyre was up to something. Suddenly Wyre glanced at me and walked towards me.

"You're a pretty girl, you know," he told me. He glanced me up and down before looking at my side. "You're hurt?"

"From the raid," I explained.

"Well," Misty said loudly, "It's almost curfew. I think Dawn and I should get back to our dorm. It's been great to see you, Silver-senpai, Wyre, but we should go."

Silver nodded and stepped to the side to let us pass. I turned to Paul.

"Thanks Paul," I said, "I'll see you at school tomorrow. I'm going to be busy in the morning doing stuff."

"Alright," Paul said with a nod of the head. Misty and I walked into the girl's zone and made our way up to our dorm.

"I think you like Ash," I stated as we walked up the stairs. Misty scoffed.

"Not in a million years," she said, "I think-"

"I don't like Paul, before you say anything," I told her.

"I wasn't going to say that," Misty said, winking at me, "I was going to say I think Paul likes you."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" I asked. Misty giggled.

"I have no idea but Raven seems to think it," Misty replied, "You know what Raven's like. 'If you accept who you are then you can see clearly'. Remember that."

"Accept myself," I muttered. The words swirled in my head for the next hour or so until I went to bed. Leaf and May were watching Pride and Prejudice (a story about five sisters who train Vulpixes and fall in love with various other trainers, including Mr Darcy, a renowned dragon type trainer who thinks himself above fire type trainers). While Misty joined the other two, I went straight to bed. There was too much on my mind suddenly.

What was the mission Wyre wanted Paul to join? Why were Silver and Wyre arguing? Was what Raven said true about accepting yourself to see things clearer? Did Paul like me? Did I like him?

I groaned as I pulled my duvet over my head.

"Too many thoughts," I moaned.

~R~

I ran through the clearing towards the lake while blue and purple swirled around me. I paused at the water but soon found myself sprinting across the water to where Suicune was stood waiting for me.

"Suicune," I yelled. It looked at me. It was so serene and beautiful. I slowed down as I approached the Pokémon and stopped short of it. "What are you doing here?"

"I am here to help you," Suicune said through telepathy.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked, "Why do I need your help?"

"You are my special one," Suicune said, "I have chosen you."

"For what?" I asked.

"I need your help," Suicune said.

"Why?" I asked, "What for? How can I be of any help to you?"

"You are my special one," Suicune repeated. I felt frustration bubble in my chest.

"That makes no sense!" I yelled, "Please, just tell me what you want!"

"You keep asking me the same questions," Suicune said, "So I keep giving you the same answers."

I thought for a minute, feeling like Alice in Pokéland. What sort of questions should I ask?

"Why have you chosen me to be your special one?" I asked, "Why do you need a special one?"

Suicune almost smiled as I asked these questions. It raised its head and looked at me.

"The darkness is coming," Suicune explained, "And there are only six who can help you."

"Six?" I asked.

"Ho-oh, Lugia, Entei, Raikou, Celebi and myself," Suicune went on, "We six have to save this world from the darkness."

"What is the darkness?" I asked.

"Created by power and greed of the human who have taken over your realm," Suicune replied.

"Rocket?" I gasped, "They're going to bring the darkness?"

Suicune nodded: "Unless you help me. When the rockets took over the lands, the legendary Pokémon disappeared never to return, but using trainers we will be able to save our world once again."

"And how can I help you? I'm just a girl," I said, "I can't take on Rocket."

"You will not be alone," Suicune replied, "You will have five others to help you. Ho-oh and Lugia have already found their partners. If you accept who you are, you will see clearly."

"If I accept who I am, I will be able to see clearly?" I repeated. "I know who else can help me!"

I crashed onto my bedroom floor. I was momentarily dazed until my side exploded with pain. I bit my lip to stop myself screaming. Slowly I got up and walked around the room to my dressing table. I looked in the mirror at my reflection. I was pale. My hair was a mess.

"If I accept who I am, I will be able to see clearly," I muttered, "Who am I?"

I glanced at my alarm clock and decided it would be best for a quick walk to clear my thoughts before preparing what I needed for Leaf's birthday. I quickly changed into my uniform and started towards the lake. It was too early, even for me. Four am. It left a horrible taste on the tip of my tongue. It was cold.

I stood by the water, hugging myself to keep myself warm. It was calm, serene, tranquil. The effects of the dream were still tugging at my brain.

"Who am I?" I muttered, "If accept who I am, I will be able to see clearly."

A wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves and sending a shiver up my spine. It was cold! But I didn't make any move to go back to the dorm. I knelt down by the water's edge and dipped my hands into the ice cold water. It was painfully cold but I didn't care. I scooped some water in my hands and threw it over my face. It was cold but refreshing.

"I am Dawn," I said, "I am going to help stop the darkness. I am Suicune's special one."

I stood up.

"I am Suicune's special one," I repeated, "I am Suicune."

I jumped into the water, a dive that even Misty would have been proud of. I plunged into the cold, crystal water. I surfaced a few minutes later, laughing at myself. I splashed around for a few minutes, all the time giggling and laughing like I was a three year old playing in a puddle. The water became warmer the more I swam around in it. I glanced up at the shoreline to see Paul stood watching me. I swam closer to him.

"You're out early," I commented.

"I… couldn't sleep," he replied, "I thought I'd come for a walk before doing some homework."

"That's weird," I said, "I decided to have a walk before doing Leaf's stuff because I couldn't sleep."

"What are you doing in the water?" Paul snapped, "Can't you tell how cold it is?"

"I don't care how cold it is!" I yelled at him, "I'm seeing things clearly for a change."

"Right," Paul said with a sigh. I held up my hand so he could pull me out of the water. For a second I thought about pulling him in with me but figured it would only be a repeat of last week. No doubt he'd get mad at me. Paul dragged me onto the ground with ease. I giggled as he let go of my hand.

"You always seem to pop up just at the right time," I told him.

"I see it as the worse time," he replied. I stuck my tongue out at him. I shivered.

"It's cold," I moaned.

"You've only just realised?" Paul asked with a sarcastic tone in his voice. I jumped to my feet.

"Do you want to come over to my dorm?" I asked, "It'd be nice for the company. The others won't be up for hours."

"Fine," Paul replied. We walked back to the dorm. My shoes squelched with each step I took but I didn't really care. We walked in our usual silence until we reached the dorm and we went into my apartment. I closed the door silently behind Paul. He began to take off his bag and dumped it on the floor near the door.

"I suppose I should get changed," I said, looking at my dripping wet clothes. Paul gave me a look that told me to stop being stupid. "Can you boil me the kettle? I'm going to make the jello."

"Fine," Paul replied. I popped into my room and began to change my clothes. I was distracted for a few seconds by my reflection. I looked in the mirror to see Suicune's form shadowing mine. I wasn't alarmed by it but I did smile. After a few seconds Suicune disappeared from me and I went back to getting changed.

I walked out of my room and immediately saw Paul hovering round the kitchen. He glanced up at me. I walked over to see that he had found the jello moulds and the jello packets. I giggled as I took the lime flavoured jello and broke it up into a leaf shaped mould. I told Paul the strawberry jello went into the rose mould, the blue raspberry went into the Staryu mould and the pink (Pecha berry) went into Piplup shaped mould. We darted round making the jellos and finally stuck them in the fridge.

"You know," I whispered to Paul, "If Leaf and Gary date, we'll need a mould for Gary. Likewise with Drew."

"Is it some sort of tradition?" Paul asked. I nodded. "Maybe they should bring their own."

"And their favourite jello flavour," I agreed.

"Drew would have one custom made," Paul said, "To make it look like himself."

I giggled: "That's probably closer to the truth than either of us want to admit."

Paul and I looked at each other weirdly for a few seconds before I heard footsteps. Leaf came running out of her room. She twirled a few times, just wearing her green nightie. She glanced at Paul and me and let out a shrill shriek.

"It's my birthday!" she yelled. I laughed at her as she ran up to Paul and I. She looked at us both quickly before deciding to pounce on Paul, hugging him happily. I laughed harder as Paul flustered, not knowing quite what to do. There was a flash of light. I turned to see a sleepy looking Misty close to us with a camera in her hand. Leaf jumped off Paul and ran in a circle round the room, pretending to be an aeroplane.

"Morning Dawn," Misty said as she snapped another picture of Leaf running round, "Morning Paul."

"Good morning, Misty," I replied, "So shall I start with the pancakes?"

"I'll go and wake up May," Misty said. Paul was watching Leaf run round and round while leant on the counter with his arms crossed. He looked amused yet confused at Leaf's behaviour.

"It's my birthday!" Leaf yelled once again as she did a triple twirl and landed on the sofa with a soft pumff from the cushion.

"She's insane," Paul commented. I nodded.

"She's Leaf," I replied. I was mixing pancake batter in a plastic bowl. Paul stood up.

"I should leave you," he stated. Leaf seemed to hear him and she was immediately in front of him, stopping him from going any where.

"But Dawn cooks the best pancakes," she said, her lower lip trembling like a child, "Stay."

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Paul said. I could see he was uncomfortable with Leaf stood in front of him, eyes wide and lip trembling, but I made no move to stop her.

"Dawn, he can stay, right?" Leaf asked.

"I don't mind," I replied, "It wouldn't be any hassle for me to make more batter."

"I'll ask Misty," Leaf said, rushing over to my bedroom and yelling loudly, "Paul can stay can't he!"

"Sure, sure," Misty replied.

"Why's Paul here?" May asked sleepily as the three of them came out of the room. Misty was wearing baby blue shorts with a yellow Staryu t-shirt. May was wearing red pyjamas. They stood staring at Paul for a few seconds before Leaf shrieked once more.

"It's my birthday!" she yelled. She ran round the room once again. Misty and May sighed at the same time before Misty went to calm her down. May walked towards the kitchen, glaring at Paul.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Hayden wanted me to drop something round for Troublesome here," Paul replied nonchalantly. He dug in his pocket and handed me an envelope with a heart sticker sealing it. I took it and quickly shoved it in my skirt. I was wondering what Paul was thinking when May stomped her foot and tore away to the sofa. I grimaced as I heard her throw herself on the sofa. I glanced at Paul. He was smirking in an amused sort of way.

"What was that?" I asked.

"A love letter," Paul replied, "That Drew got from a fangirl."

"And why do you have it?" I asked.

"I think I may be accidentally wearing Drew's trousers," Paul replied, "Either that or he stole mine."

I chuckled slightly. I hated it when I accidentally used May's uniform. They felt different from my own and usually had snacks hidden in them. It did happen from time to time but not too regularly.

"Presents!" Leaf chorused as she ran towards us. She grabbed Paul's hand and dragged him over to the sofa. Paul followed. Giggling once again, I put down the batter and walked towards my bedroom. I had left Leaf's present on my dressing table. I grabbed May's as well which was laid on her side.

Leaf was sat waiting patiently next to Paul. May was glaring at Paul. Misty was holding a large present in her hands. I walked over to the group and gave May her present.

"Who's do you want first?" Misty asked. Leaf thought for a few seconds before looking at May.

"May's!" she said. May smiled and passed her the present she had got her. Leaf tore off the paper and yelped in excitement. Leaf showed Paul that she had got the full collection of Jane Austen in books. Paul looked slightly worried but didn't comment.

"Thank you, May!" Leaf yelled as she hugged May.

"I'm glad you like it," May replied.

"Now, Misty," Leaf said once she was sat down. Misty quickly handed Leaf the large present. Once again, Leaf tore off the paper and yelped when she saw what it was. I tilted my head to see what had got her so excited. It was a large plush Wigglytuff. Leaf hugged it tightly. "Thank you, Misty!"

The two hugged. Leaf flopped back down into her seat.

"Dawn!" she yelled. I giggled as I handed her my present. Yet again she tore off the paper and shrieked. She stood up and twirled round the sofas for a few seconds before hugging me tightly.

"Glad you like it," I gasped as she hugged me. Leaf nodded. It was a simple green dress which I had made for her. I had designed it especially for her. Her initials were on the label at the back of the dress. Also there were some sweets in the pockets which she had found quickly.

"Thank you, thank you," Leaf chorused. Paul stood up and walked over to his bag. After a few seconds he pulled out a small green pouch and walked back to us. Leaf craned her head so she could see what it was.

"Here," Paul said, handing Leaf the pouch. Leaf took it carefully and opened it. She poured what was inside the bag on to her hand. It was a stone of some kind. She looked at it for a few seconds before beaming.

"A leaf stone," she said, "It's what I was named after."

"You were named after a stone?" May asked. Leaf nodded.

"Because my mum thought they were lucky," Leaf explained. She looked at Paul and bowed. "Thank you so much. It's a really thoughtful present, Paul."

"Wow," Misty commented, "I think that's the quietest thank you she's ever given."

"Pancakes!" Leaf and May chorused suddenly. Misty sweat-dropped. I jumped up and walked to the kitchen so I could start cooking breakfast, leaving Leaf and May singing the pancake song. Misty began to set the table while Leaf had roped Paul into dancing with her and May. Poor Paul. I doubted he had ever had a breakfast like this.

**Haha! Leaf's birthday, how will everything go? Well I know, hehe. Like I said, I feel a little… evil today so I'm going to give you a sneak peak into the next chapter ;)**

**Ta dah: the magic of copy and paste *puff of sparkle dust***

_**More tears spilled down my cheeks. I hiccupped slightly, unable to stop myself from crying. I heard Paul get to his feet and walk towards me. He sunk onto his knees in front of me. I looked up at him.**_

"_**I don't know why you're crying," he stated.**_

"_**Can't I cry?" I snapped, "When a friend has just told everyone a secret I didn't realise until two minutes ago? When it's totally embarrassing? When my heart's breaking in two?"**_

**So you'd better tune in next time for Rocket Academy *wink* I won't be mean next time, promise. **

**RSx**


	10. Of Surprises and Confessions

**Yes, here I am on a super special update because I couldn't update until yesterday I am bringing you another chapter of Rocket Academy. Am I nice or what?**

**Firstly, thanks to splitheart1120 who helped me update the last chapter. Thank you!**

**Secondly, thanks to my reviewers: WoWgurl, splitheart1120, LuckyTigger, AnimeXLuver4Ever, RaveOn21now22 and xXCanaryXx who have made me feel slightly threatened and very mean. Good job guys :)**

**I hopes you like this chapter :)**

**Chapter Ten: Of Surprises and Confessions**

I ran up the stairs into the apartment with Drew, Ash, Paul and Gary not far behind me. We were all carrying things we needed to get the apartment ready for the surprise party. I opened the door and rushed in, letting the guy pass me as they placed things where ever they could. Raven appeared at the door a few seconds later with the chocolates and decorations. She set about making sure everything was in order while the guys helped out the best they could. Paul and I were stationed in the kitchen once again, preparing all the food and adding the last final touches.

"She's coming," Raven hissed about an hour later. I pushed the guys into mine and May's room while raven closed the curtains and turned off the lights. We hid in the room, waiting for Leaf to enter. After a few minutes, I heard the key in the door.

"Hey, why are the lights all out?" Leaf asked. There was a click of a light switch and a yell of delight. I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.

"Oh, you're back," I said, like it was no big deal that the room was littered with food and decorations.

"Dawn! You're the best," Leaf said hugging me. She pointed at the decorations and food. "How did you do it?"

"Well, I had help," I explained, "Misty and May helped out too."

"Thanks guys," Leaf said hugging the other two. I held up a finger.

"And then there was my Surprise Crew," I told her. Leaf looked at me confused. I called to my door. "Raven!"

Raven opened the door and closed it behind her. She took a bow. She was wearing casual clothes: jeans and lilac top. Leaf hugged her tightly.

"Thanks, Raven," Leaf chorused.

"And then," I went on, pausing for a dramatic effect. Leaf hung on my words, wondering who else could have helped me. I remained silent for a few more seconds, watching Leaf's eyes widen with excitement.

The door opened again and Paul walked out of the room, followed by Drew, Gary and finally, Ash. They stood there for a second before three out of the four bowed. You can guess which one didn't. Leaf ran up and hugged Paul. Paul let out a sigh, this being the third or fourth time she had done this to him today. Then she hugged Drew and Ash. Gary stood awkwardly as he was neglected.

"Don't I get a hug?" he asked.

"Did you cook any of the food?" Leaf asked. Gary shook his head. Leaf hugged him.

"So, party time?" Drew asked, rubbing his hand together.

"I wanna go change first," Leaf stated, running into her room. Misty and May agreed they wanted to change first and went into their separate rooms to do so. Misty emerged from her room wearing her usual blue jeans and yellow top. May walked out of the opposite door, wearing a red top and black three quarters. Lastly, Leaf walked out of her room wearing the green dress I had made her. I smiled as she twirled in it.

"Dawn, it's perfect!" Leaf yelled, "Thank you!"

"Wow," Gary remarked, "It looks good, Leaf."

And with that, the party began. Within minutes Drew and May were arguing; Ash and Misty were talking about something that caused Misty to pull out her mallet and hit him over the head; and Gary and Leaf were talking quite happily as Leaf showed him her presents. I glanced at Paul and he looked at me. Yeah, we had weird friends.

"Oh yeah," Drew said suddenly, "I forgot about our presents to Leaf."

"Presents?" Leaf asked, "You guys didn't have to get me anything, really."

"Nonsense," Drew waved her off, "You're practically family."

"Since when?" Ash asked, "I didn't know she was family."

Misty shut him up with another swing of her mallet.

Drew, Ash and Gary stumbled into May's and mine room and returned a few seconds later holding gifts for Leaf. Gary cast Paul a dark look. Paul didn't seem to care about the look but looked away, not wanting to cause a fight with Gary. Drew was the first to give Leaf her present, with a white rose. She opened the paper and thanked Drew for the things she got him. Ash was up next. He gave her a jar full of candy with a bow on the top. Leaf squealed with delight and thanked him. Raven jumped the cue, holding out a small something she had made herself. It was a leaf shaped hair clip which went with my dress. Leaf thanked and hugged her.

Finally, Gary gave Leaf a small box and stood waiting for her reaction. Leaf opened the box and her smile vanished almost instantly. Gary looked over at me, alarmed, but I had no idea what was wrong with her. Slowly, Leaf picked the necklace out of the box and held it up to her eye level. Everyone seemed to stop whatever they were doing to see what she was holding up. May and Misty's jaw dropped when they saw what she was holding. Gary was starting to worry about her reaction when Leaf hugged him tightly, burying her head into his shoulder.

"Thank you, Gary," she muttered. I clapped my hands happily and glanced at Paul. He rolled his eyes. I kicked his shin and we both winced: me because of my side injury, him because I kicked him a little too hard. By the time we looked at Leaf and Gary again, Leaf was spinning Gary round in a circle laughing with joy.

"You might have actually done good, Troublesome," Paul whispered to me.

"Don't sound so surprised," I replied.

It was a bit later when we were all sat darted around the room. Misty had deemed the usual party games as childish and none of us were allowed to play. Suddenly May sat up.

"I have an idea of a non-childish game," May said. Everyone turned to looked at her. She scrambled to her feet and rushed into her room. She returned with some cards. "May's Tarot reading."

"Tarot?" Misty asked, "Since when do you read Tarot."

"I don't," May admitted.

"I do," Raven piped up. May offered her the cards and Raven shuffled them. Raven adopted a cackly tone. "Now who wishes to have their fortune read?"

"I do!" Leaf said.

"Birthday girls go first," Gary agreed. Raven laid out six cards.

"Point to four," she told Leaf. Leaf pointed to four cards and Raven turned them over. We looked to see what had been turned over. Raven looked over the four cards and nodded. "Wow, you're going to be lucky soon in romance that will last for a very long time. Although something dark loomes in the distance but the elves will come to help you."

"Elves?" Leaf asked. Raven nodded. Raven pointed to a card which showed Celebi. Leaf nodded and laughed. "I like my fortune."

"Can I go next?" May asked. Raven set up more cards and May chose her four. Raven looked over them once again.

"Your heart is confused but in time you will understand it. Your passion is deep rooted and will serve you through the hard times. The one you love will become clear… soon," Raven said. Misty stepped forwards next as May thought about her fortune. Misty picked her cards.

"You love the sea and the ocean but you have a spark in your heart. You deny yourself love because you do not want a lover, you want a companion, a loyal companion," Raven read out. Misty's jaw dropped.

"How did you know that?" she asked. Gary shuffled forwards, picked his four cards and waited for Raven to speak.

"You will have an easy romance with the girl you love," Raven told him, "But you have to take the first steps. You are a leader but beware, listen to your friends when they warn you of the dangers."

"That made no sense," Gary remarked. Raven shrugged.

"It's what I see," she said, "Come on Drew, I know you're dying for a turn."

Drew picked his cards from the six Raven laid out.

"Your lies and ploys will bite you in the butt," Raven said, "But don't worry, it'll work itself out in time. You will be surprised in a few years by unexpected news but do not flee from it. It will be ok. Ash?"

Ash nervously crawled to Raven as Drew stood up, thoroughly confused by his fortune. Ash picked four cards, although he changed his mind a few times before settling on the four. Raven looked over the ones he finally chose and sniggered.

"You love food, a lot," Raven stated, "And even though you may not be the brightest, you will be the one to make plans when the time comes. When you know the time, shout to be heard."

"I do like food," Ash agreed as he shuffled away. Raven looked at Paul. Paul rolled his eyes and sat down in front of Raven. He picked his cards and waited for a reply. Raven bit her lip.

"You're haunted by the past," she said, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Paul blinked a few times as Raven looked over the cards some more.

"You are going to make a hard choice soon," she went on, "But your senses will lie to you and you are doomed for misery if you choose wrongly. Oh, Paul. Your fortune sucks."

"It's a good job I don't believe in this crap," Paul said and began to stand up. Raven glanced at the final card and gasped. "What now? I'm going to die alone? Get eaten by Ursaring?"

"You're so in love," Raven said, picking up one of the cards, "And you're conflicted about what to do because you're scared of what might happen."

"Can I go now?" Paul asked boredly. Raven nodded. Lastly I got up and sat in front of Raven. She placed six cards in front of me. I picked four and she turned them over. It took a while for her to read them. Suddenly she looked me straight in the eye, her own widening in surprise. The silence seemed to continue for a long time.

"What's wrong?" Gary asked. Raven cleared her throat.

"Can I tell them?" Raven asked, "It's sort of a bit embarrassing."

"I don't mind," I replied.

"You've recently accepted something very important," Raven said slowly, "This time next year you'll be a mother."

"What!" I yelled, causing a chorus of giggles to erupt from my friends. Raven smiled apologetically.

"Don't worry," Raven said, "You'll be married too."

"Married?" I asked, "To who?"

"I dunno," Raven replied, "The cards tell me not to tell you."

"Oh great," I moaned, "I'm a married, pregnant teen. How depressing."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll be happy," Raven continued, "But before then, you have to brave everything you fear and let go of all your doubts. If you get wrapped up in the darkness then you'll be… Sorry, I read that wrong. You will get wrapped up in the darkness and almost forfeit your life. I'm sorry Dawn, but your life's not in your hands."

"Whose hands then?" I asked. Raven bit her lip, refusing to look at anything but the cards.

"I can't say," she replied, "But I can tell you, it's someone in this room."

"Ooooh," Drew said before bursting out laughing. Raven shot a glare at him.

"Shut up, rose boy," Raven snapped, "Otherwise I'll make your fortune happen quicker."

"Ha," Drew scoffed.

"May," Raven said clearly, "Drew and Dawn have been pretending to date so they could make you jealous."

"WHAT!" May yelled. She glared daggers at Drew, who quickly jumped from his seat to get away from May. "Why?"

"Because," Drew said, "You only like Brendan."

"And what's that got to do with anything?" May shouted.

"Well," Drew said, blushing, "I sort of like you."

"Huh?" May asked, going a similar shade of pink.

"So Dawn thought if you got jealous, you might realise you might like me," Drew explained. May looked at me.

"But, Paul gave Dawn a love letter and said it was from you this morning," May said.

"It was a love letter," Paul admitted, "But it was to Hayden from one of his fan girls. I only said it was for Troublesome."

"Jerk," May yelled, throwing a profiterole at Paul. Paul ducked and it missed him.

"Well?" Drew asked, "Do you like me?"

May suddenly seemed to calm down for an instant before she folded her arms and looked away from Drew.

"I'm not sure," she replied, "I can't deny I wasn't jealous but I don't know if I like you."

"OK," Drew said, "At least you know."

"That's true," May agreed. An awkward silence fell on the party. Raven looked around before smirking.

"Well, since we're airing stuff out," she said, "Gary likes Leaf, Leaf likes Gary, Ash likes Misty and Misty thinks she wouldn't mind Ash."

All of us seemed to freeze as our names were read out. I glanced round at Gary and Leaf who were blushing furiously. Ash was red while Misty's jaw had dropped. Paul looked like he could kill Raven but she paid no attention. Drew and May smiled at us like they were our superiors.

"Dawn thinks she likes Paul but doesn't think he likes her because she knows he likes someone else very much and is very mean when she asks him about it," Raven went on. I gawped at her. Paul glanced at me. "And to put the icing on the cake-"

I ran. I was out the door before anything else could be said. I heard people call my name but I ignored them. I ran down the stairs and through the main entrance. I dodged a few people who were coming towards the dorms. My legs took me to the lake where I collapsed into embarrassed tears. Why did Raven have to say that? I wasn't sure how I felt. I crawled to the water and looked at my reflection.

When you accept who you are, everything becomes clear.

I did like Paul. I really did but how was she to know that? Why did she know that? How could she know even before I did?

A tear fell into the water, creating a ripple. I sat back away from the water and rubbed my eyes. There was no use crying. Paul was going to reject me but I could care less. I couldn't stop him from rejecting me but at least he knew how I felt. I'd be able to get over it sooner or later. I nodded to myself. I'm better than this. I'm Suicune's special one. I could handle anything.

Then I saw him walking towards me and all my resolutions scurried away.

"You should really stop coming out here in the cold," he told me. He threw a coat at me and went to sit by my tree. I slowly reached for my coat and put it on. "Things in your apartment are tense. Raven's escaped back to her room. Misty and Ash are pretending nothing has happened. Drew and May are pretending like each other doesn't exist. Gary and Leaf are making lame conversation to get over their embarrassment."

"And you came out here because?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"Because they all decided to point fun at me," Paul replied with a sigh, "The guys seem to think it's a good black mail thing and the girls, well, even more so."

"Did Raven tell them her name?" I asked, "They know who you like?"

"Yes," Paul said quietly.

More tears spilled down my cheeks. I hiccupped slightly, unable to stop myself from crying. I heard Paul get to his feet and walk towards me. He sunk onto his knees in front of me. I looked up at him.

"I don't know why you're crying," he stated.

"Can't I cry?" I snapped, "When a friend has just told everyone a secret I didn't realise until two minutes ago? When it's totally embarrassing? When my heart's breaking in two?"

"Dawn," Paul said, grabbing my shoulders gently, forcing me to look up at him, "I told you I followed you here, right? I know you like Pecha berries and pink. Your first Pokémon was Piplup who was given to you by your father. You love baking and making clothes and reading stupid fantasy romances. I call you Troublesome and say you'll always get yourself in trouble so I have an excuse to keep an eye on you. I hate Ursula and Celeste because they take a dislike to you. Whenever you get hurt, I can't help but worry. I'd do anything to make sure you were safe. When you do stupid things, I can't help but relax and enjoy myself. I helped you with this stupid party so I could get closer to you. I sit next to you all the time in lessons but never talk to you. And you terrify me because I'm scared you'll reject me without a second thought."

I realised half way through his speech I'd stopped blubbering. I was now staring at him in a weird way. Slowly he reached forwards and wiped a tear off my cheek.

"I got angry with you when you thought I liked someone else because there is no one else," he went on, "For three years I've been fascinated by you even though you get up at weird times, eat fruit all the time, read romance novels, like pink and shop a little too much, but I… I like you, an awful lot."

"But…" I stuttered, "Why me?"

Paul sighed deeply and shrugged. My lip quivered for a second, new tears threatened to spill and my heart started to do summersaults. I could hear my heart beat in my ears. I wondered if Paul could hear it too. He looked me in the eye and slowly pulled me into a hug. My arms shot round him and I hung onto him tightly. He rested his chin on my head, wrapping his own arms round me.

"I'm not a nice guy," he told me, "I'm mean, cold and a jerk."

"You forgot grumpy," I added, choking slightly on renewed tears. He chuckled a little.

"But I never lie about what I feel," he went on, "When I say I like you, I really do and I want to make sure you're safe always."

"Are you asking me out?" I asked, looking up at him. He shook his head.

"If I was asking you out, I'd just ask you," he replied, but not in a sharp way, "Not tell you all this."

"Then what do you want?" I asked, pulling away from him and sitting up. We looked at each other for a few minutes.

"I want us to be together," Paul replied, "But not dating or going out. Together."

"Together?" I asked, wiping my eyes again, "What do you mean by together?"

"I mean…" he trailed off on his explanation like he could explain it. He wrestled for the words in his head.

"You don't want the whole show of it, do you?" I asked, "You just want to be naturally a couple."

He nodded. I smiled at him before launching myself at him. His arms wrapped around me as he was propelled backwards onto the grass. I laughed as I held him.

"I like you too, Grumpy," I told him, kissing his forehead.

"Troublesome girl," he muttered, but he was smiling as he said it. We parted and sat next to each other. I glanced over the lake and saw Suicune standing on the water. My heart raced again. Was it all a dream? No, don't let it be a dream.

Paul shuffled next to me, obviously seeing Suicune standing there watching us. He didn't seem alarmed by the legendary stood there, but he pulled me closer into his body.

"Take care of her," Suicune said before it disappeared from view. Paul looked down at me, blinking a few times.

"You're Suicune?" he asked. I let out a nervous giggle. I tried to find words to reply but none made it to my tongue. Paul shook his head, a smile on his face. He kissed my forehead and chuckled. "And you said I was weird."

~R~

Paul walked me back to the dorm ten minutes later and we cautiously walked to the apartment. I opened the door slowly and peered in to see Gary and Leaf talking on the sofa. Misty was ignoring Ash's attempts at talking to her but was talking happily to May on her other side. Drew was sat reading on the sofa opposite Leaf and Gary. Drew was the one who saw us enter.

"Look who it is," Drew announced, "It's Mr. Softie. Hello, Mr. Softie."

"Shut it, Hayden," Paul snapped, as he closed the door behind him.

"Mr. Softie?" I asked.

"Don't go there," Paul replied. We walked towards the sofas and sat down next to each other. We looked at out various friends before looking at each other.

"You're right, this is tense," I told Paul. He nodded.

"It's quiet though," he said. Drew snorted.

"All you care about is peace and quiet," Drew snapped.

"Drew," Gary barked, "Go be bitter somewhere else."

"Oh, sorry, am I spoiling the mood?" Drew asked.

"Yes," Paul replied, dryly. Drew glared at Paul and then looked at me. We were sat close together, perhaps closer than we should have been but Paul hadn't complained about it. Drew eyed us carefully.

"You didn't stay for Raven's grand finish," Drew went on, "You want to know?"

"Nope," I replied with a shake of the head, "I'll hear it from Raven tomorrow when I apologise for running out on her."

"You'll laugh so hard," Ash said, coming to talk to us.

"Yeah," Drew agreed. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Did she call you a softie?" I asked Paul, "A huge softie with squishy bits and a giant heart of gold?"

"With sprinkles and cookies," Paul added dryly, "Yes."

I giggled and leant into his chest. He put a hand on my back. Leaf, Gary, Drew and Ash all tilted their heads one way as I put arm round Paul. I fought back a smile as they looked confused. Paul looked at them.

"What?" he asked. Drew opened and closed his mouth several times before going back to his book. Ash walked back to be ignored by Misty and May. Gary and Leaf looked at each other.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," Gary remarked. Leaf burst into giggles. Drew looked over the top of his book before raising it up again. Gary began laughing next, shortly followed by me. Paul smirked. Drew finally threw down his book and crossed his arms over his body. Slowly, a smile twigged at his lips and soon he was laughing with us. May, Misty and Ash looked over at us to see the majority of us laughing for no reason. Slowly Ash began to chuckle, pointing at Gary who was pink in the face. Misty giggled nervously as Drew fell off his seat and landed on the floor and was soon cackling with the rest of us. Paul even joined in the laughter. We all paused, stopped completely to look at May who had remained silent through out the laughing session. There was silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Then we were all at it. Gary and Leaf laughed first, then Paul, Drew and I joined in. Ash led the final three into the chorus. We laughed, howled and giggled for the next five minutes for no reason at all. May sat down on Drew's seat, giggling. Misty stood by the couch with Ash by her side. It dipped and rose. It went from manic to tittering to howling in a natural flow until we all stopped.

"This," Gary said with a pause for a silent giggle, "Is. One of the best parties. I have ever. Gone to."

He collapsed into giggles once more.

"Fetch the candy," Leaf ordered. Misty and Ash went to the table and gathered up the toffee apples. They handed one out to each of us.

"A toast, well, an apple," Drew said, "To…To random giggling."

May giggled in reply. We held up the apples so that they were all touching.

"To… chortling," Misty added.

"And laughing at Gary," Ash went on, earning another round of giggles.

"Hey," May snapped suddenly, glaring at Paul. Everyone looked at Paul and me. There was another bout of silence. Paul and I looked at each other, confused. We looked at May, as did everyone else. She slowly began to giggle. "Paul… was laughing… too!"

The smile vanished off of Paul's face.

"I didn't realise I couldn't laugh, Bandana," he said, deadpanned. I immediately laughed, making him laugh. Drew slapped his leg as he laughed. Ash doubled up with laughter. The others were squirming with laughter.

"Oh my god," Leaf said suddenly as she rolled on the sofa, "I think- I think I'm going to die."

And with that, we laughed even harder.

**I wrote the latter part at near enough one am in the morning when the giggle fairy infected me. I think this shall have to go in the vault so I don't randomly laugh in the future. Sorry if you laughed during this chapter, but once you start, you can't stop. Even more sorry if you laughed at this chapter at one am and you got told off. **

**I hope you enjoyed it and can forgive me :) Until the next update on Sunday… or Monday… I don't know which one it will be. It may be a Monday update for England but a Sunday update for America. Sorry. Don't know what time I'll get in on Sunday/Monday. Eeek. Til next time any way.**

**Bye!**

**RSx**


	11. Of Class and Blunders

**OK, only just in time for the Sunday update here in England. Thanks to splitheart1120, Wowgurl, LuckyTigger, RaveOn21now22, XEmpoleon of LightX, PaulAndBarryWhenever123 and Foxgrl18. Also big thank you to LeafxGreenx3 for reviewing some earlier chapters too XD I'm glad people enjoyed the last chapter. My initial plan was to have them dancing round each other for a bit longer but when it came to writing it… pft, the characters had different ideas. Don't worry this is not the end. Now, which is the next shipping, I hear you saying and I am going to reply… Not telling you ;) Currently I am on chapter… Eighteen (?) with the writing so there's plenty more to come. Now let's see how Dawn and Paul's first day as a couple goes…**

**Disclaimer: me no own Pokémon.**

**Chapter Eleven: Of Class and Blunders**

"Everything's so weird," May commented before we went to bed that night, "I don't know what to think."

"Don't think about it," I replied, "Maybe the answer will come to you if you just think about cream puffs or something."

"But I can't," May moaned, "All I can think about is Drew."

"Maybe that's your answer," I said. May sighed loudly.

"Maybe," she agreed. She looked at me, a smile crawling onto her face. "So what's the deal with Paul?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, Raven said that he really liked you before you took off," May explained, "And then he got annoyed and left. We thought he'd gone back home but he returned with you a little later."

"He told me he liked me," I replied, "Then he asked me if we could be together."

"Together?" May asked, "Like dating?"

"No," I replied, "Like a couple not… I don't know how to say it. We're together, not dating or seeing each other or going steady. We're together."

"How romantic," May commented, "How Paul puts away his grumpy, jerkish mood to confess to the girl he loves. Hey, I just thought. Raven said you would be married and be a mother by this time next year. Maybe it's Paul!"

"Go to sleep, May," I told her. I turned over and closed my eyes. I heard May giggling at me for a few seconds before she shuffled in her bed. She was asleep not soon after. Her snoring gave her away. I lay awake for a while thinking about Paul until sleep over came me.

~R~

"Troublesome," Paul greeted me the next morning by the lake. I glanced up from my reading book and smiled at him.

"Good morning, Paul," I replied. I went to get up but Paul was about to sit down next to me. "How are the guys?"

"Slightly annoyed," Paul said with a sigh. I was interested.

"Why?" I asked.

"Since they are too embarrassed to talk to the girls," Paul replied, "While I have nothing to worry about."

"You have a strange relationship with them, don't you?" I asked, stifling a laugh. Paul nodded.

"They don't really like me because I don't really express myself like they do," Paul replied with a shrug, "But that's who I am."

"Like the way Ash is an airhead, Drew loves himself and Gary is a playboy," I agreed, "You're just weirder than they are."

"Weirder? Well, I guess that's why I like you so much, you're the weirdest," Paul remarked. I blinked a few times before looking over the lake. I could see Piplup swimming around in circles near the edge of the water. Suicune had been there last night when Paul and I were talking, but since then I hadn't dreamt about the legendary beast. What did it all mean?

Paul stroked my arm, making me look at him. He was staring out across the lake like I had been not a while ago. I snuggled into him.

"Do you really think I'm weird?" I asked.

"The weirdest," he replied simply, "But the best people usually are."

"Yeah right," I said.

"My brothers a housemaid, my best friend has grass hair," Paul said, "My dad used to collect bottle tops. You don't get much weirder than them."

I giggled lightly.

"I should tell people about you," Paul said a little more seriously than before, "But I'm not."

"Why not?" I asked, pulling away from Paul. "Why would they even care?"

"You are Suicune," Paul stated, "You're a human projection of the Pokémon. We don't know why they suddenly disappeared but they can't come back until the darkness is gone."

"And you are trying to save the world?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Paul kissed my forehead.

"The good news is that the Elites shouldn't be able to track you now you've accepted Suicune," Paul went on, "But the other three are in danger so you'll have to work out who they are. You should know two of them."

"You know an awful lot about this," I said, suddenly becoming suspicious of him, "Who's to say you're not trying to woo me so you can do horrible experiments with me?"

"Woo you?" Paul asked, "Have you been reading Austen?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. Paul smirked as he pulled me into him.

"I'm going to look after you," he whispered, "It'll be our secret."

I nodded. Paul stroked my arm a bit more until he pulled apart from me, suddenly. I glanced round to see Piplup stood with his flippers in his hips.

"Piplup," he stated. I giggled nervously.

"It's OK, Piplup," I told him, "Paul's OK."

"Lup," Piplup said, unconvinced. I looked at Paul who was just shaking his head. He got to his feet and brushed his trousers off.

"We should get to school," he said. I nodded. I pulled Piplup's Pokéball and returned the small penguin. I jumped to my feet.

"So if people ask?" I asked.

"They won't," Paul replied, "They'll be too wrapped up in their own world to notice."

"So no hugging, touching, general niceities and tender moments while school time?" I asked for clarification. Paul smirked. "I know, I know. You're not that kind of guy."

"I'm not really bothered about what you do," Paul replied.

"Then make it a rule," I said, "No hugging, touching or tender moments while at school unless in certain circumstances, i.e. Ursula spontaneously combusting."

Paul nodded: "That would be a great circumstance."

We stopped outside the school building to see the prefects stood in a line, waiting for a black car to stop. Paul and I looked at each other.

"De-já-vu?" I asked. Paul nodded. We watched as tall kid with black hair climbed out the car and slammed it, coolly, behind him. He flicked his hair, glancing at me as he did it. I gulped as he flashed me a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ascot," Silver greeted. Ascot raised his hand and Silver instantly fell silent.

"No need, Silver-sama," Ascot replied in a dreamy voice, "The pleasure's all mine. After all, it's not everyday you meet the Boss's only son."

Silver smiled gently and shook Ascot's hand. The two shared common greetings before Ascot looked at me once again.

"Who's that delightful creature?" he asked. He walked towards be and placed a hand on his hip. Paul tensed beside me. "Could you be… Dawn?"

"Yeah," I replied, "I am Dawn. How do you know my name?"

Ascot looked at Paul. Paul was glaring at Ascot as if he was trying to work out who Ascot was. Ascot let out a small chuckle.

"And Paul, I presume," Ascot said, "Don't mind me, I'm Raven's boyfriend. And if I weren't I would be quite tempted by Miss Dawn here. You two make a very nice couple."

"Thank you," I said when Paul remained silent. Ascot tilted his head to one side, meeting Paul's gaze. Silver looked between the two before he patted Paul, hard, on the back. Paul glared at Silver for the sudden interruption.

"Don't mind Paul," Silver stated, "He doesn't talk much."

"I can respect that," Ascot said. He took my hand and kissed it softly. I gulped once again as Ascot looked up at Paul to gage his reaction. Paul rolled his eyes.

"No wonder Raven likes you," he remarked calmly, "You have class, she has none at all."

"I heard that, Grumpy," Raven snapped from behind us. I turned round to see the green haired girl walking towards us. She was glaring at Paul with heated anger. Ascot let go of my hand and chuckled.

"I see you haven't changed," Raven went on, looking her boyfriend up and down, "Still flirting with girls, I see."

"Keeping my options open," Ascot replied.

"Jerk," Raven snapped. She linked arms with me. "Come on, Dawn, let's go and find pleasant company."

With that I was dragged off into the school. I glanced back at Paul to see Silver talking to him and pointing at Ascot. Paul nodded and that's all I saw of him.

"Raven," I moaned, "You're so mean. You dragged me away from Paul."

"Oh man up," she replied. She stopped dragging me when we got to her locker. She clicked her tongue as she threw some things into it. "I can't believe that jerk has come here."

"He said you were his girlfriend," I said.

"Ex-girlfriend," she spat, "I saw him cheating on me. I couldn't believe it. With a blonde bimbo as well. My self esteem plummeted that day."

"Oh, Raven, I'm sorry," I said, "I'm sure you won't see anything of him in school."

"Not true," Paul said walking up behind me. I jumped, not expecting him to be there. "Silver's assigned me to look after him."

"What!" Raven yelled, "That's so unfair!"

"Silver likes to put you with people," I commented, "Which is weird since you hate people."

"Obviously I have 'I am a people person' tattooed on my head," Paul remarked, "Although I can't see it."

I brushed back his bangs and checked his forehead. I shook my head and sighed.

"Well, I can't see anything," I told him, "Silver must fantasise about you being sociable."

"There's a scary thought," Paul said as he leant on the lockers beside him. He looked at Raven. I turned and looked at her too. She looked confused at our banter. She pointed at us and opened and closed her mouth several times before giving up and closing her locker.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Yeah," Raven replied, leaning with her back on the locker, "My predictions from last night have been altered. Are you two… you know?"

I glanced at Paul before nodding. Raven frowned.

"Weirdoes," she snapped, "My readings are never off and then you come along and change them."

"Sorry," I said, "Why, what did you see?"

"I saw you two not getting together for a while," Raven sighed, "But now…"

She opened her locker once again and pulled out a deck of cards from inside. She closed the door and beckoned us to follow her. We walked into our homeroom and we sat down in our usual seats. Raven shuffled the cards and laid out six. I picked four. Raven looked over them for a few minutes before she clicked her tongue.

"You moron, you've totally changed your prediction!" she shouted, "Although what I told you last night will come to pass still."

She laid out six more cards and Paul (after Raven had kicked his shin) picked four. Raven hurriedly looked over the cards and banged her fist on the table.

"Not fair," she remarked, "I got it all wrong. I changed the future by saying what I said last night. Oh, dear. Not good."

"What do the cards say now?" I asked.

"Paul's say he'll risk his own life to protect you and your secret and will almost cause the doom of the whole planet because of it," Raven snapped, "Well done, Paul."

"And then the sky will turn pink and we'll all speak French," Paul added sarcastically.

"Can you see my secret?" I asked. Raven looked at me, biting her lip. She was just about to speak when Ascot walked into the room. We looked at him. He looked at us weirdly for a minute before seeing the cards in front of Raven.

"Oh, tarot?" Ascot said, "I thought you were doing something a little more embarrassing than tarot."

Raven looked over the cards once more.

"I've messed it up though," she said sadly.

"Changed stuff again?" Ascot asked, "You don't usually do that."

He walked over to the table and looked over the cards. Paul looked at me with a worried expression on his face. If Raven knew about my secret, then she could tell the elites at any time. She probably knew them anyway. It would be easy for her.

"Paul," Ascot said slowly, "You're going to have a simply terrific future according to these cards."

I could tell from his tone that he was being sarcastic. Ascot straightened up.

"The best people make their own future, not let cards make it for them," he went on. Raven nodded slowly.

"However, when you see the future and see it change you tend to have a different view on the matter," Raven said.

"She's been psychic for a little over two years now," Ascot told us, "It's brilliant."

"And yet, I didn't foresee you cheating on me," Raven said airily, "If I'm so brilliant, I should have seen it."

"For the last time, I wasn't-!" Ascot shouted but he was cut off by a girly squeal. Ascot sharply turned round to see Ursula run up to Paul.

"Paulie, it's so good to see you without that thing growing on your arm," Ursula said.

"Celeste?" Ascot muttered to Raven.

"Celeste," Raven replied.

"It's a shame that other thing is there though," Ursula went on, taking the time to shoot a glare at me, "I wanted to talk to you about something, Paulie. It's going to be the spring dance soon. You should go with me."

"I don't dance," Paul replied.

"It's not for two months yet," I whispered to Raven and Ascot. They both smirked.

"We don't have to dance," Ursula rambled, "We can chat and have a good time with each other."

"I already have someone I'm going with," Paul replied calmly.

"Who?" Ursula asked, putting her hands on her hips. I could see a cruel smirk crawl onto Paul's face. He leant forwards.

"Well, Celeste told me I was going with her," Paul explained, "But I don't want to go with her. Maybe you could talk her out of making me go with her?"

"I'm on it," Ursula said and she was out of the classroom in a shot. Paul sat back on his chair, a smirk still on his face.

"This will be interesting," he stated. Ascot pointed at Paul.

"I love this guy!" Ascot yelled, "He's fantastically evil."

"It's Paul," I said.

"You are going with me for the dance, right?" Paul asked me. I nodded. Ascot looked at Raven.

"Don't go there," she told him. Ascot's face dropped and he slunk into a nearby chair.

"You're mean," he moaned. Paul and I smirked at each other.

~R~

"We have another guy to look after?" Drew complained as we walked to first period, "Why does Silver do this to us?"

"Because," Gary replied, "He likes to set us a challenge."

Ascot appeared by my side and gave me a goofy smile. To say when I first saw him I thought he was classy. Over the last twenty minutes or so he had deteriorated rather quickly until he was, well, not classy at all. He seemed like the fun loving clown sort of guy but every now and again, especially if teachers were around, he would turn into the classy sort of chap. I rolled my eyes at him. Paul was on my other side, not noticing Ascot was anywhere near us.

"I'm going to complain," Drew went on, "It's not my job to look after new students. What am I? A student rep?"

"Technically," Paul said, "I am the one who is looking after him."

"Technically," Drew scoffed.

"What's wrong with him?" Ascot asked me in a whisper.

"He's annoyed because he likes this girl and she doesn't know if she likes him," I explained in a hushed voice. Ascot nodded slowly.

"And why is Dawn walking with us?" Drew asked suddenly. I looked at him but I couldn't see his face. Gary and Ash didn't reply but they looked at me like they agreed. I looked round nervously at Paul and Ascot. Ascot was pretending he wasn't there. Paul was scowling.

"I'll go find…" I ran off. I didn't have to go far to find Misty and May who were in the same class as me.

"What's wrong?" Misty asked when she saw me, "I thought you were walking with Paul and the guys."

"Well," I said, "I thought it wasn't fair leaving you two behind especially since what's happened with them. I can't be selfish can I?"

It was half true, although I had just realised it. Misty offered me a small smile of gratitude and May patted me on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about us," May told me, "You should go and have fun."

"I am," I replied, "It's so weird being round the guys."

"I bet it's battles, girls, battles, food, battles and moaning," Misty said. I giggled.

"Lots and lots of moaning," May agreed. The three of us laughed as we walked into the classroom. What struck us as weird was that Paul was setting out his things in the usually empty chair next to me. Ascot had taken Paul's seat on the desk the guys usually sat at.

"You joining us?" Misty asked with a smile. Paul nodded. "Any reason why?"

"I'd rather sit with sensible girls that stupid ones," Paul said with a tone of pure venom. Ascot must have heard from the other side of the classroom because he covered his head with his hands. The other three shot Paul dangerous looks which Paul returned almost ten fold. May and Misty giggled nervously as they took their seats.

"You guys had a fall out?" May asked.

"Hn," Paul replied.

"Over what?" I asked. Paul folded his arms over his chest and leant back in his seat.

"It's not really important," he replied. It automatically translated to 'I'll tell you later' in my head and I nodded. I got out my things and neatly placed them on the desk in front of me.

"Oh, Paul," Ursula's voice cut through the silence like a really annoying knife. She was stood in front of Paul with her hands on his desk. "Don't you have anyplace to sit? Why not come and sit next to me?"

"I'm fine here," Paul replied.

"But you're sat next to those three," Ursula sneered, looking at me, "They're gross."

"You have a weird sense of gross," Paul muttered under his breath, "Just leave me alone."

"Excuse me for interrupting your conversation," Ascot said, suddenly appearing on the other side of Ursula, "But I have to ask, Paul, where is the next lesson? None of the others seem to want to tell me."

"How mean," May gasped, "That Drew."

"That Ash, you mean," Misty corrected.

"Blame it on Gary," I added. Paul smirked slightly.

"I can show you at the end of the lesson," Paul told Ascot. Ascot nodded and glanced at Ursula.

"I do say, miss, your hair is something quite amazing," Ascot said. Ursula instantly went into girly mode.

"Why thank you," she cooed. Ascot walked back to his seat and Ursula turned back to Paul. "Like I said, Paulie. There's always a seat next to me if you need it."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Paul replied but Ursula was already walking away. Paul was confused for a second but he soon returned to his usual grumpy self. The hour seemed to drag on and on until the clock reached the time when we could leave. Paul waited for Ascot and we wall walked to our next lesson. The other guys walked off without another thought. It was Physical Education next, much to May's dismay. We walked to the gyms and proceeded to our separate changing rooms. Two hours of doing drills and stuff. It ran through dinner time but we had our own separate lunch time after the lesson.

I walked out of the changing rooms with my four friends, we had found the other two while getting changed, and into the gym where the various apparatus was set out. When I say various apparatus I mean death traps. The gym was divided into various small blocks where there would be a number of obstacles to train on. Today there were only four blocks which must have meant it was a larger group exercise we would be doing. We were assembled in the viewing balcony above the gym. I looked to see what we had to do. Some of the death traps looked especially dicey with all sorts of horrors happening.

"This is going to be horrible," May announced.

The coach appeared with the guys not far behind him. We crowded round Coach and waited for him to talk to us.

"Today is group exercises," Coach said, "Get yourselves into groups of nine or ten."

Paul walked towards us with Ascot not far behind.

"Well, we have seven," Misty said.

"Where are the others?" Leaf asked.

"They're not talking to Paul, apparently," Misty replied. Leaf looked confused but before she could say anything, Coach strode towards us with Gary, Ash and Drew with him.

"This should be interesting," Coach said, "My top four with five girls and a new kid. Good luck."

"Great," Gary snapped, "Of all the people to get teamed up with."

"Yeah," Drew agreed.

"We need a team leader," Ash said. Gary was about to raise his hand when Ascot pointed at Raven.

"We need a neutral person to be team leader," Ascot told them, "Having Spikey or Misty or Paul as team leader wouldn't do. Raven knows how to lead."

"Listen, I'm usually team leader," Gary replied, "If there's a team, I lead it."

"Oh yeah?" Misty snapped, "Well when we're a team, I'm the leader."

"But Gary has the most experience as leader," Drew argued.

"So? Maybe it's time he let someone else be leader," May retorted.

"Oh, come on," Ash moaned, "You girls don't know how to lead to save your lives."

"That's unfair and untrue," Leaf yelled.

"If you're fighting we're going to die," Ascot pitched in. Paul nudged me. He wasn't getting involved and neither was I. I could see Raven getting annoyed by the whole thing.

"I am the best at leading," Gary said loudly.

"You're the best at something but it's not leading," May snapped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gary asked.

"You girls have no clue on how to lead a proper team," Drew said, "You only know how to direct your friends not a full team."

"Enough," Raven snapped. Everyone looked at her. "We'll do it like this. Gary you lead your half of the team. Misty you lead the other half of the team."

"How is that going to work?" Ash asked.

"It won't," Raven replied, "But seeing as you're all idiots, I think this will be an ideal thing to do. Get into teams."

Ash and Drew stood beside Gary. May and Leaf stood beside Misty. The remaining four stood in a clump in the middle.

"This is not going to work," Gary told us.

"Well," Raven said, "If we all die, we know how it could've been avoided."

~R~

"This is bad, very, very bad," Ascot muttered as we went into the first block assigned to us. We waited for the machines to begin moving before we edged forwards. There were a few balconies at various levels with metal ladder joining them. In the far right corner there was a fake diamond placed. Paintball guns were hidden in camouflaged places. There was no floor, there was just a space where the typically clichéd spikey cogs were. There was a metal chain hanging from the roof. Along the high walls were various cardboard cut-outs that popped up and shot at you randomly. If you were hit in a vital place you were out. If you were out, you had to run laps. Believe it or not, people much preferred to do these blocks than run laps.

We filtered onto the lowest balcony. Coach blew his whistle once very team had got into position.

"Right, Drew that way, Ash that way," Gary ordered.

"May go to the right, Leaf to the left," Misty said at the same time as Gary.

Raven and I stood next to each other, watching the others break off and attempt to do the same thing. This would only end in tears. Ascot and Paul were stood either side of us, watching with the same frame of mind.

"What's the plan?" Ascot asked.

"Wait to see what happens," Paul replied, "No doubt they'll start fighting and end up dying."

As if on cue the paint ball guns started up. Without waiting for an order, we moved out of the line of fire. Paul and I were hiding by a wall. Raven and Ascot were opposite us.

"Well," Paul muttered, "This is fun."

"They seem to be doing well enough," I said as Drew and May ran up a ladder to the top level and began fighting over a switch. I sighed. Obviously the switches lowered the chain a bit more since it was too far out of reach. There were various other switches and booby-traps darted round on the balconies. Ash and Misty were racing to get to another switch on the middle level while Leaf and Gary were yelling at each other over another switch on the first level. Paul frowned at them.

"This is pathetic," he snapped, "They're going to get themselves killed."

"Better here than on a proper mission," I replied. Paul covered me as another round of paintballs were propelled towards us. There were a few shrieks of pain. I glanced over Paul's shoulder. May and Drew were both out. Paul smirked as Drew and May walked past us. They were bickering like always.

Gary and Leaf had just activated a booby-trap. A few of the balconies clicked and turned to a 45 degree angle. Ash and Misty were caught by this and ended up sliding from their balcony onto the floor beneath. They looked around confused as they landed on top of each other. Unfortunately still, the guns started up again and the two of them had paintballs pelted at them. They grudgingly left the block to go join Drew and May. I smirked as I heard Misty hit Ash over his head with her mallet.

"Just two left," I muttered to Paul. Paul nodded. He looked relaxed to say the least. His arms were folded and he had his back leant against the wall.

Leaf and Gary were doing considerably well until Gary tripped the wrong switch and the whole block reset itself. He cursed loudly. Leaf was not impressed. The two began arguing over the mistake rather loudly when the guns started shooting at them. Leaf ducked behind Gary and avoided most of the paintballs. She laughed as Gary walked away. She ran off in the opposite direction but she slipped. She tried to grab onto the handrail but she had slipped with so much force she went over it. She screamed as she hung from the top floor. Gary automatically turned round. He forgot everything about their arguments and rushed to help her.

I was already climbing up to the top floor.

"Get the switches," Paul yelled, "We need to end this."

"Roger," Ascot and Raven said, getting straight to work. Paul was following me but I was being too fast. I skidded onto the top balcony just as the guns started. I ducked out of the way. Both Leaf and Gary yelled. Gary backed off from the handrail, covering his eyes. Leaf dropped so she was holding onto the floor of the balcony with the tips of her fingers.

"Help," she cried. I ran towards her, dropping to the floor and grabbing her wrists. She let go. I almost fell with her if weren't for my shoes catching a gap in the floor. However, now I couldn't move.

"Gary," I stuttered, "I need help."

"I can't see anything," he replied. I glanced over my shoulder to see him leant against the wall rubbing his eyes. I slid forwards once again. Something heavy landed on me. I guessed it was Paul since someone then wrapped their arms round my waist.

"Leaf," Paul growled, "Can you swing onto the next level?"

"Ye-s," Leaf squeaked, "But – but I need to properly swing back."

"Troublesome?" Paul asked. I nodded. I used all my strength, ignoring the pain in my side, to swing Leaf backwards and then forwards. I let go of her when she swung underneath me. She clanged on the floor painfully, landing on her side rather than her feet.

"Ow," she mumbled. I glanced up to see the guns were poised to shoot once again.

"Paul," I said. Paul sat up and dragged me back onto the balcony. We scrambled to our feet, grabbed Gary and found a place where we couldn't get hit. Leaf yelled as she was probably hit once again. As soon as the barrage of paint balls ended, Paul had me on my back, checking my wound. It was bleeding once again. Gary looked around before swearing.

"This stuff stings," he moaned.

"Get out of here," Paul snapped, "Take your girlfriend and get some medical attention."

"Ow," Gary moaned as he got to his feet. He began to go down to the next floor to collect Leaf. I bit my lip as Paul messed with the dressing on my wound.

"I'm fine," I told him.

"Paul!" I heard Raven shout, "Is the chain thing low enough for you?"

He looked around to see the chain was in the perfect position. He got to his feet and looked over the balcony.

"You jump," he told her.

"Say what!" she yelled back, "Get Dawn to!"

"She's injured," Paul replied. I got to my feet and pulled down my top. I looked at the chain rope and smiled. I backed up a bit and then sprinted to the balcony edge, climbing onto the handrail and propelling myself forwards to grab the chain. I swung across the block to the corner where the fake diamond was. I managed to grab it before I swung back. Paul caught me and hauled me back to safety. I handed him the diamond.

"That was the stupidest thing you've ever done," he snapped at me.

"More stupid than agreeing to be your girlfriend?" I asked, pecking him on the forehead. He sighed. "Let's go. Mission complete."

~R~

"That was terrible," Coach scolded us at the end of lesson. Paul, Raven, Ascot and I were the only group which had managed to complete all four blocks. We glanced at each other in surprise since we thought we'd done badly considering six members of our team were out. It was strange to see all of our classmates panting and sweating from running round so much. Coach glanced at me and pulled me forwards roughly.

"Now this is the sort of commitment I mean," he said pointing at my side where my wound had bled quite a lot. My t-shirt was sure to have a stain on it. "Injured yet still willing to continue. You whelps are a disgrace to this academy. Fifty more laps before you go to lunch. HOP TO IT!"

"Sir," was the snappy reply from the rest of the class. Coach turned to us four and beamed at us.

"I'm quite proud," he said, "With two reasonably new students and six pathetic friends, you two did remarkably well. I saw how you two worked back there. Colour me impressed."

"Thanks, Coach," Paul and I said.

"Now off to a well deserved lunch," Coach went on, "And Miss Hikari. Please look after that injury."

"Yes, Coach," I replied with a bow. Raven walked me to the girls changing room and we got changed into our uniform. Slowly we walked towards the exit, aching terribly from the lesson. Paul and Ascot were already waiting for us.

"Do you need to go to Nurse Joy?" Paul asked me.

"Yes please," Ascot replied. Raven clipped him over the head.

"Not you," she snapped. I shook my head.

"I'm just hungry," I replied. Paul walked beside me as we turned and walked towards the dining hall, fully aware we had left Raven and Ascot arguing outside the changing rooms. I glanced at Paul. "So it's not been a bad day."

"It's not been good either," Paul stated.

"Isn't there one thing that's made it good for you?" I asked. Paul smirked.

"The look on Hayden's face when he got pelted with paintballs," he said, "I suppose it was worth it."

"You're heartless," I told him. Paul chuckled.

"If you want me to say 'you made my day complete', go get another boyfriend," Paul said.

"OK," I said after a pause, "I will. Ascot!"

"Touché," Paul remarked. I giggled. I clutched my side suddenly, feeling a little dizziness descend on me. Paul steadied me.

"First food, then Nurse Joy," I told him. He nodded and we quickly hurried off to the lunch hall.

~R~

I stirred. I couldn't even remember falling asleep. It was so strange. The last thing I remembered was joking with Ascot and Raven about Paul's grumpiness and the next I was here. Where ever here was. I looked around to discover I was laid in a hospital bed. The sun was bright, or maybe it was the light on the ceiling which was bright. I heard Nurse Joy talking to someone.

"It's pure exhaustion," she was telling someone, "As well as that injury on her side. I think she's lost a bit of blood without realising it. Coupled with the exercise and stress of the last lesson, I'd say she was just in the need of a good night's sleep. I think she'd be more comfortable in her own dorm."

"I don't have a code for her dorm," I was sure it was Paul's voice, "But I can take her to my dorm for the time being."

"Usually I would say no, but in this case I think you can be trusted," Nurse Joy said, "You really look after her."

"Someone has to," Paul replied. The curtain was opened and the two came into a blurry view. I couldn't really see them but I could make out Paul's purple hair. I tried to talk to him but my words came out as slurs. "I'll sit with her a while."

"I'll walk you to the dorm," Nurse Joy agreed. Paul soon had me on his back in a piggy back. Nurse Joy walked beside us carrying our bags. I kept blanking out. One minute in school. Next second outside school. Next second Paul was placing me down on his bed. Nurse Joy covered me up in the duvet.

"Call me if she gets any worse," she ordered Paul. Paul agreed with his usual 'hn' noise and showed Nurse Joy out. He returned a few seconds later, taking his sweatshirt off over his head. He sat down on the bed and gently stroked my cheek.

"Get some sleep," he told me softly.

"Stay with me," I whispered. Paul nodded. He moved me to one side a little and slid himself between the mattress and me. I leaned on him, using his chest as a pillow. His arm was comfortably around me as he pulled me into his body. What a lightweight I was.

**OK, this chapter was longer than I thought. Oh, well. Poor Dawn :( Tune in for my next update on Wednesday and don't forget to review!**

**RSx**


	12. Of Sickness and Gifts

**Oh my, what a busy day. Not to mention I've had way too much sugar. Remind me never to eat that much sugar and wear a skirt on the same day ever again. For some reason I'm always a lot more mischievous when I'm wearing a skirt. Anyway, thanks to my lovely reviewers: LeafxGreenx3, foxgrl18, , WoWgurl, LuckyTigger, xXCanaryXx (sorry about missing you last time!), RaveOn21now22, AnimexLuver4Ever, splitheart1120 and xRissychanx.**

**You are EPIC!**

**So now on with the fic. Please enjoy and remember I don't own Pokémon at all.**

**Chapter Twelve: Of Sickness and Gifts**

I jumped awake. It was surreal. It was weird. I was scared. I looked round the strange room to see no one there. Where was I? My heart raced in my chest as I fought to remember where I was. I sat up as stiff as aboard, listening for any noise. It was dark and quiet. The bed was comfy and oddly warm. Where was I?

The door of the room opened. I only had to see the purple hair to relax. I flumped back into the pillow. Paul raised an eyebrow at me.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I didn't know where I was," I replied, slightly embarrassed. Paul sat down on the bed next to me.

"It's OK," he assured me, "You're safe."

"If you're here of course I'm safe," I replied happily. Paul leaned in and kissed my head. I wrapped my arms round his neck and cuddled him. He wasn't expecting me to do this because he almost fell into me. He steadied himself with his arm while he grabbed my shoulder with his free hand. I hung onto him. I never wanted to let go. Slowly, Paul's hand moved from my shoulder to my back. He pulled me closer into him.

"It's alright," he said softly. There were no more words after that. He just held me until I felt like letting go of him. It was a long time before I thought I was ready. I gently pulled away from him but he didn't pull away from me fully. We were still reasonably close when I looked up at him.

"Sorry," I said, "For being such a weakling. I bet I'm pretty pathetic, right?"

"You're not," Paul said. He stroked my cheek softly.

"But… I collapsed after one gym lesson!" I shouted, "How pathetic is that?"

Paul put his hands on my shoulders and made me look into his eyes.

"Who knows what's happening to you," he told me in a stern yet hushed whisper, "You're Suicune. It's a lot to deal with especially with your injury. So don't say you're pathetic. Understand?"

"Yes," I replied while tears rolled down my cheeks. Paul pulled me in for another hug. He kissed my head. I hugged him back as tightly as I could. There was a knock at the door.

"What?" Paul asked, his tone back to normal.

"How is she?" it was Misty.

"Tired," Paul replied.

"Do you want me to sit with her?" Misty asked, "You haven't eaten yet and it's almost half nine."

"I'm fine," Paul said. I pulled away sharply.

"Go eat," I told him. I slapped his hands off me and pointed to the door. Paul slowly got to his feet.

"You should eat too," he said. Misty took up Paul's spot on the bed. She smiled softly at me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Awful," I replied honestly, "I feel sick and tired and weepy and hot and cold."

Misty put her hands to my head and gasped.

"You've got a temperature," she said, "That's it. We're staying here tonight."

"What?" I asked.

"Paul said because we can't move you, May, Leaf and I can use this room to look after you. It also means that Paul can always help us too," Misty explained, "You need medicine."

"But…" I said but Misty was already out of the door. I put my hand to my head. I was boiling. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and threw the covers off me. I stood up, took two steps and then was suddenly on the floor. No strength what so ever. I tried to get up once again. Three steps, floor. I dragged myself to my feet and used the wall and furniture for support. I made it to the door where I slouched in the door frame. The guys were having a huge argument with the girls.

"She can't stay here," Drew snapped, "And neither can any of you."

"She's ill, we can't move her," May argued back, "If she's got a temperature she shouldn't be moved."

"No," Drew told her, "No girls in this apartment, ever."

"It's OK," I said quietly, "I don't mind."

"That's ridiculous," May said, "The only reason why you're not letting us stay here is because of what Raven said the other night."

"Yeah," Misty agreed, "And the only person who's coming worse off from it is Dawn."

"Dawn's not _our_ girlfriend," Gary told Misty, "So why should we run around for her."

"I'll go back home," I said a little louder.

"So, because she's not your responsibility you'll just kick her out?" Misty asked, "After she's just tired to help you?"

"Why should we have to put up with you or her?" Drew asked. I hobbled over to the door and opened it. I couldn't take it. I hobbled out into the hallway and towards the stairs. I took the escalator down to the bottom floor and tried my best to get to the main door. I collapsed on the floor, unable to walk. So I crawled as best as I could before I could support myself again. I was nearly, so close, to the entrance when arms picked me up. I glanced up to see Paul carrying me with my bag on his shoulder. He carried me out of the building to the girl's entrance. I typed in the code and he carried me up to the door. He fished the keys from my bag and unlocked the door. It was quiet here. I instantly loved it. Paul took me into my own room and placed me gently on my bed. He kissed my head.

"I'll go and get some things for myself," he said, "I'll be back shortly."

"'K," I replied, "Paul."

"Hn?"

"Thank you," I said sincerely.

"I said I'd look after you," he told me, "You're too important to me to leave it to other people."

With that he disappeared. I sank into my pillow and let out a sigh before sleep over took me once again.

~R~

I had one short dream and that was all. Suicune appeared before me in my room.

"Entei and Raikou are on their way," it said, "Celebi will follow shortly. Watch for them."

Then it was gone in a wisp of smoke.

~R~

I stirred once more.

"You're awake?" Raven asked. I glanced at her. She was sprawled over May's bed reading a book. I slowly sat up and looked around the room.

"Where's Paul?" I asked. It felt weird not having him here especially since I thought he would have been here when I woke up.

"He's at school," Raven replied, "You were out for quite a while."

"How long?"

"Three days," Raven said. I gawped. Three days? Was that even possible? No… It wasn't. There was no way I could've been out for three days. Raven chuckled as she got to her feet. She put her hand on my head. "The fever's gone. You're not clammy. Can you get up? Do you feel strong enough to get up?"

"I think so," I said as I got to my feet. I stood awkwardly for a few seconds before I took a few steps. I felt fine. I walked up and down the room with no problem at all. "I feel fine."

"Good," Raven said, "I don't think I've seen everyone so worried the morning when you wouldn't wake up. We thought you were dead."

"Sorry," I replied, "I just wanted to sleep."

"Paul refused to leave your side you know that day," Raven went on, "I practically had to throw him out of the door yesterday morning so he could go to lessons."

"Won't you get in trouble for not going to lessons?" I asked. Raven shook her head.

"My father owns this place," she explained, "I can do what I want and get away with it. Come on, let me make you some breakfast."

I spooned the porridge into my mouth carefully as Raven watched me. I felt like I was under scrutiny but I refused to be unnerved. Finally, Raven let out a sigh and looked away.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. Raven shook her head.

"It's nothing really," she replied.

"You're reading my mind, aren't you?" I asked. She looked at me weirdly before a smile broke across her face.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"You know my secret, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Because you can read minds?"

"Yes."

"Then I can only assume you are psychic or that the reason you have been psychic for the past two years is because you have the same secret as me."

"How did you know?"

"I just guessed."

Raven let out a long sigh. Slowly she began to chuckle to herself. I went back to eating my porridge not really enjoying it since I didn't really like it. Raven looked at the ceiling.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked.

"Wait," I replied, "It's the only thing we can do."

"I came here because Ho-oh was here," she explained.

"I'm sure the others will come to us as well," I assured her, "Do you see anything in the future?"

"I can't see who they are," Raven replied, "But I'll be able to sense it when it happens. Paul knows?"

"He saw Suicune," I said. Raven nodded.

"He's hiding something from you," Raven stated.

"What?" I asked. We stared at each other for a moment or too before she smiled.

"I'm not quite sure," she replied.

"Will I turn blue?" I asked.

"Not more than usual," Raven replied. We giggled and fell into another, lighter, conversation.

~R~

I had to have a walk later so that I could clear my head a little. School would finish in about half an hour so I decided to walk before the girls got back to the apartment. I headed straight for the lake without so much as a second thought. The lakeside was as calm as it usually was. I crouched down beside the water and decided to dip my feet in the water. I kicked the water slowly thinking about Suicune. The first dream with Suicune in it I walked on water. I'd tried that before but that was before I had Suicune's powers. I took my feet out of the water and stood up.

Here goes nothing, again, I thought. I stepped onto the water and quickly took another step. I looked down. I was walking on water. I was paralysed for a minute or two until giddiness took over. I ran around the lake like a three year old, ecstatic that it had worked. I danced around. I jumped and twirled. I did gymnastics. It was amazing. Slowly I made my way into the middle of the lake and looked in the water beneath me. I could see Magikarp swimming below my feet.

A noise distracted me from the shore line. I glanced over to see five boys walking towards the lake. My first thought was 'crap'. My second was 'hide'.

I plunged under the water. I looked around. I was floating in the water. I could breath. I didn't feel wet or cold. I glided to the shoreline and hid as best as I could.

"You know you're walking a very fine line at the minute," I heard the voice from the shoreline. "You all are."

"Well, it's not our fault," that was Gary's voice. Oh dear. This was definitely not good. If they found me then I'd be in deep trouble.

"It's not your fault?" that sounded like Silver's cold tone. I shivered. "How can it not be your fault? You've been acting like three little girls for almost a week now and I'm tired of it."

"Well, it's the girls," Drew said. I rolled my eyes. They were still going on about that were they? I can't believe I was out for three days and that still hadn't been sorted.

"The only girls with problems are you," Silver snapped. I fought back a giggle. "And you've turned against Paul for no other reason that you're jealous of him."

"He's been a total jerk," Ash yelled. There was a second of silence.

"No more than usual," Paul's voice made my blood run cold. I shouldn't be here. I had to get away but there was no way I could escape.

"I agree," Silver commented, "You failed PE because you couldn't stop bickering. You're the laughing stock of the Academy just because you can't control your emotions."

"Hey," Gary said, "It's not our fault-"

"The sooner you realise that it is your fault the better," Paul said, "You've been acting like a couple of jerks for the past few days and acting like idiots isn't going to make Leaf or Carrot Top or Bandana like you. By the time you get your personal lives sorted maybe you'll want to continue with our mission."

"Suicune's disappeared," Drew told Paul, "There's no way to track it and we didn't get a pin point on its exact location either."

"Entei and Raikou are next," Silver said, "We'll try to track them."

"Dawn said something I'm still wondering about," Gary said. I froze. I panicked as my name was mentioned. What could I have said? "A few weeks back she said that May and Misty were very much like Entei and Raikou because of the way they were."

"And Leaf was like Celebi," Ash added.

"Well," Silver replied, "You know what you've got to do."

"And that is?" Drew asked.

"Grow a pair and apologise to these girls so you can keep an eye on them, just in case," Silver replied. There was a chorus of whats from the three guys. "I'm still concerned about the four Elites being here. Wyre is breathing down my neck and Celeste is pressuring him. They're looking for the Legendaries too. I'll take care of them but I'm afraid the girls may be under surveillance already. What do you know about Raven?"

"She's the daughter of the guy who runs the school," Drew explained, "She used to live in Kanto before moving here. She's your average rich kid who has a flare for tarot and meddling in love lives."

"And Ascot?" Silver asked.

"He's a goof ball," Paul replied, "The only reason he's here is so he can mend his relationship with Raven. He seems to think Celeste and Wyre are putting her in danger."

"Maybe we could approach him," Gary said.

"Once you start being decent to him," Paul snapped.

"For all we know Ascot could be a decoy," Ash said, "He's meant to infiltrate us and bring us down before we can bring down Rocket."

"That is a risk," Drew agreed.

"We need as many people as possible to help us protect the Legendaries," Gary announced, "So it's a risk we'll have to take."

"Why did I ever let Gary be in charge," Silver asked, "You're all lucky. If I knew how girl-like you were when I picked you, you wouldn't be here now. I'm going back to do some research."

"Yeah," Gary agreed, "We've got things to do, I guess."

I heard footsteps as they left. I felt relieved as they left. I waited for a few seconds for them to go completely until I thought 'up'. I shot out of the water and was back on the surface. I checked my clothes but they were dry. I looked at the shoreline to see Paul stood looking at me. I jumped.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a bored sort of way.

"Testing a theory?" I replied. I stepped onto land. Paul handed me my shoes which I had left on the grass. I put them on and stood next to Paul.

"You heard everything?" he asked. I nodded. "Good."

"So…" I trialled off, "You didn't tell them…"

"No," Paul replied.

"So… You want to protect all the Legendaries?" I asked, rubbing my arms, "Not just me?"

"I've been ordered to protect the Legendaries," Paul replied, "I only willingly want to protect you."

"To bring down Rocket?" I said, "To stop the Darkness?"

"Yes," Paul replied. I threw myself at him. He hugged me tightly.

"You weren't going to tell me, were you?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I couldn't," he replied, "But I noticed you were in the water and… You should know."

"Thank you," I said gratefully, "I'll do my best to help you. I'll stay out of trouble. Even if that is impossible because I am so troublesome."

"You're not," Paul assured me, "Let's get you back to the apartment."

I nodded and we walked back towards the dorm. I became aware that Paul was looking at me. I glanced at him and quickly checked my hair was alright.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," he said as he looked away from me, "I was worried."

"I swear you're getting softer," I teased, "Mr Softie."

Paul's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. I grabbed his hand as I laughed at him and dragged him to the dorms.

**Hehe, Paul is Mr Softie. Anyway, I shall update on Sunday. Woo! So nighty night all. Don't forget to be nice and review!**

**RSx**


	13. Of Trust and Honesty

**Oh busy days… Poetry Festival yesterday and today, theatre production yesterday (not mine but I did review it), play tomorrow… Arg! Too much work!**

**But on another note: Thanks to splitheart1120, Animallovermlc3296, xXCanaryXx, WoWgurl, LeafxGreenx3, AnimexLuver4Ever, LuckyTigger, RaveOn21now22 and Foxgrl18 who reviewed. Thank you!**

**So here's the next chapter :) Hope you enjoy. **

**Warning: This chapter carries a gooey fluff warning. Read at your own risk ;)**

**Chapter Thirteen: Of Trust and Honesty**

The scene was worse than I could've imagined in the apartment. Apparently, the guys had got back to the dorms just as the girls had. The two groups had decided to 'talk things through' in our apartment which had led to the most horrific shouting match I had ever heard. Paul and I had rushed to the door upon hearing the shouting. Quite a few of our neighbours looked confused and concerned at the commotion. No doubt this would become gossip fodder for the entire year.

Inside the apartment, the boys were stood on one side while the girls were stood on the other. Raven was stood in-between them, holding her arms out, stopping Gary from attacking Misty. This was definitely not good. Even Paul looked at little anxious as he stepped into the room. He closed the door behind him and we stood watching the argument from the doorway.

"Stop being so damn stubborn!" Gary was yelling.

"Stop being a moron!" Misty yelled back. The other four were yelling at each other like there was no tomorrow. Raven was trying to say soothing words but she was being totally ignored. There was only one thing for it. I walked into my bedroom and got a Pokéball. I released Piplup and gave Raven a mental warning. She must have picked up on it because she ran through the group and stood next to Paul. The group then became one big cluster, each finding someone to argue with.

"Piplup," I told the small blue penguin, "Use your coldest, fastest water-gun."

"Lup," Piplup said. He spouted water at my friends. There was a high pitched yelp and everyone turned to look at me. Paul and Raven walked and stood either side of me. Raven was smiling. Paul folded his arms, glaring at them. I had my hands on my hips. I looked down at my Piplup.

"Thanks Piplup," I said and he went hurrying off into my room. I looked back at my soggy friends. "It's a good thing I was already up. I don't think I would have liked to be woken up by this racket."

"It's their fault!" each side shouted, pointing at the other. I thought I may have to call Piplup back in as the two groups started bickering but Raven released a Wartortle and put her hands on her hip.

"Uh uh," she said, "My Tottot knows hydro-pump. If you wanna know how that feels, just keep and arguing."

"Tottot?" Paul muttered under his breath. Raven kicked him. The others slowly stood up straight and faced us.

"Good," I said, "Now somebody tell me what's going on here."

There was instantly a large amount of shouting and finger pointing. Paul looked at Raven.

"Stuff the water attacks," I heard Paul mumble, "If they keep this up I'm calling Electivire out."

"I don't think they'll like that," Raven giggled.

"Don't tempt me," I agreed. Raven nodded at her Tottot. He shot a very powerful but short hydro-pump at the other six, knocking them off their feet into a puddle. "Right. I tell you how this is going to go."

I took my clip out of my hair and held it in my hand.

"Whoever has my clip can talk," I told them, feeling like I was talking to a bunch of toddlers, "If you don't have the clip and you do talk, then Tottot can use hydro-pump."

Everyone nodded as they got to their feet. I threw the clip at Misty.

"Hey that's not-" Drew said but he was knocked over by a hydro-pump attack which set Raven, May and Leaf off giggling.

"Misty," I continued as if nothing had happened, "What is going on?"

"The guys said they wanted to talk but all they've done is blame us and argued," Misty explained.

"Gary," I said. Misty threw the clip at Gary. "What are you here for?"

"We came to talk about what's been going on these last few days," Gary replied, "But the girls haven't let us have one word."

Misty snatched the clip out of Gary's hand.

"That's a lie and you know it," she snapped. Beside me, Paul rubbed his head.

"You're all idiots," he muttered. Gary took the clip off of Misty.

"Says you Prune Head!" Gary yelled, "You sorted out your problem because yours was pretty simple!"

"No," Paul snapped, "I sorted out my issue because I am a mature person and even if it hadn't been resolved I still wouldn't be acting like a girl like you three are."

"Why you-" Drew started before he was yet again hit by a hydro-pump attack. Raven rubbed her head.

"Wow, you don't get this at all do you?" she asked. Leaf took the clip off of Gary.

"Paul does have a point," she said, "And not just because he's mature. I mean he's scary and mean and yet so nice, but he's got a lot more pride than you three. He was willing to put that away and tell Dawn how he felt. And Dawn is a lot more open about her emotions than us three."

May took the clip off of Leaf.

"I think the guys have been wholly unfair to three people," May stated.

"Hey, so have-" You can probably guess who said that and who was shot by another hydro-pump attack.

"I mean them three," May said, pointing at us, "I mean you were mean to Dawn by saying you shouldn't have to deal with her and then you pretty much cast out Paul because he's dating Dawn. You're just jealous because the guy who doesn't show any emotion managed to have the balls and do what you were incapable of doing."

Drew stood up and snatched the clip from May.

"Jeez those hydro-pumps hurt," Drew yelled at Tottot. May grabbed the clip back.

"I thought grass liked water," she said. Drew took the clip back.

"Shut up, bandana head," Drew snapped. May tried to take the clip off him but he avoided the attack. "And as much as it pains me to say it, May is right."

Everyone stared at Drew for a second, not expecting him to agree with May at all.

"I hate it that Paul somehow managed to get his girl," Drew said honestly, "Because he's Mr Grumpy and Mr Meanie combined into one convenient package. I also hate it that Dawn is so unbelievably happy with Mr Grumpy when I can't get the one girl I actually like because she's in love with some white haired freak."

Misty took the clip off Drew.

"You do know that's just a hat right?" she asked. Drew snatched back the clip.

"It's an expression!" Drew yelled. May took back the clip.

"I needed time to think about it," May said, "And maybe I would have made a faster decision if you hadn't been so mean! Ever thought of that, genius?"

Ash suddenly swiped the clip from May.

"I admit I've been a jerk," Ash said as he looked at Misty, "But it's just so frustrating that you know how I feel but I don't know what you feel. I'm dense, I can't pick up on how you feel. You have to tell me what you want and I'll do anything for you. If you want to be friends, we'll be friends. If you want to be more, we can be more."

Ash handed Misty the clip. She looked at it before taking it. She was silent for a minute until she smiled.

"I want a person I can rely on," she told Ash, "I want a friend as well as a lover. I want to be friends first if that's OK. Take it nice and slow and then maybe date when we know each other a little bit better."

Misty handed Ash the clip.

"I can do that," he said. He threw the clip at Gary. Gary looked blankly at it before passing it on to Drew. Drew stared at it before throwing it at Paul's head. Paul caught it but didn't look too impressed.

"I am perfectly happy and have no need to say anything," he stated. He threw it to Leaf. She juggled it for a few seconds before she finally caught it.

"Er…" she stuttered, "Well… I do like Gary, but he's so mean. Meaner than Paul. I just want someone who will be nice to me and like me for me."

Gary walked up to her and took the clip out of her hand.

"I'm sorry," he said, "For the way I've acted. There's no excuse for it. I've been mad at Paul not you. I really like you for who you are. You're kind and funny and slightly odd. If you weren't so unique, I don't think I'd like you half as much."

Gary turned to look at Paul with his hands on his hips.

"How the hell did you get things to work out with Dawn? She's like your polar opposite. You're so stubborn. You only want to do one thing and that's become stronger so why suddenly have you decided to go after Dawn? It doesn't make sense. You made fun of us as we tried to get the other girls to notice us and yet you were the one trying the hardest. So what makes us any different to you?" Gary asked.

"You're idiots, I'm not," Paul replied. Gary waited for Paul to say more but Paul kept his mouth shut tight. Finally Paul spoke again. "And I'm more successful than all of you put together."

Gary and Drew sweat-dropped, knowing full well that Paul was telling the truth. Ash laughed heartily. Drew took the clip from Gary.

"You know you're full of yourself, right?" Drew asked. May took the clip off of Drew.

"And you're not?" she replied, "And since you are avoiding the conversation, I'll talk about it. I still need a little more time to think about it. If I mean that much to you, you should be able to wait another few days, right?"

"Sure," Drew said, shortly before jumping to avoid a hydro-pump. "Cut that out! I'm not-"

Drew landed on the floor in a heap, his finger in the air. May let out a sigh. She passed the clip onto Leaf. Leaf threw the clip back to me.

"I think everything that needed to be said was said," Gary said. The six of them nodded. Raven and Paul looked at me. I gripped the clip tightly before I turned to face Raven.

"Ascot's crazy about you," I told her, "There's no way he would come here if he didn't want to make amends. Have you even thought to ask him about that other girl? You just assumed that he was cheating on you even though he said he wasn't. You try to help others but you don't help yourself. You know you love him so why do you deny that?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Raven replied. Tottot squirted her with a short range hydro-pump. She yelped and jumped away from the blue turtle. "Fine! I assumed he was cheating on me, no, I knew he wasn't cheating on me. I admit I still like him but I just used it as an excuse so I could get away from him. Happy, Dawn?"

"And I thought I had issues," Paul muttered, "If you people have finished PMS-ing, I'm going into town."

"PMS-ing?" Ash asked, confused. The other guys just looked as confused while the girls shot Paul a dark look.

"Dawn?" Paul asked. I smiled at him and nodded.

"We'll leave you alone," I told them, "I've interfered enough. I'll be back later."

Paul and I left the apartment. I was grateful Paul had decided to leave. I understood perfectly why Raven had done what she had. Her secret… she didn't want Ascot to get hurt because of her. I glanced at Paul as we walked towards the front of the building.

"_Thanks_," I heard Raven's voice in my head. I stopped and turned to see her on the balcony. She was looking down at me with a smile on her face. "_You can count on Paul but Ascot's totally different._"

"_I'm sorry, I didn't know,_" I replied, "_But if you tell him, I'm sure he'll do anything to help you. He deserves the truth._"

Paul stopped and looked at me.

"Troublesome?" he asked.

"Hurry along!" Raven yelled, "And have fun with Mr Softie!"

"I will!" I shouted back. Paul looked confused as he noticed Raven. I caught up with Paul and hung onto his arm. "Can we go to the grocers? I fancy some fruit."

"Troublesome," Paul sighed but he smirked all the same.

~R~

We walked round town for a while. It was nice to have some time to ourselves outside school. I was quite surprised that Paul let me hang onto his arm like I had been doing. I stopped out side the grocers.

"I'll be two minutes," I told him before disappearing inside my fruit heaven. I darted round the aisles picking up random fruits and putting them down again. Finally I decided on a melon, pineapple and a carton of peacha berries. I paid for them and walked back out of the shop. I expected Paul to be waiting for me but he had disappeared. I looked round for him. After a few seconds he emerged from a nearby store. I smiled at him as he walked towards me.

"Did you find something nice?" I asked. He gave me a small brown paper bag. I looked at it questioningly before I even thought about opening it. Inside was a hair clip in the shape of a scarlet pimpernel, red in colour. I blinked a few times before looking at Paul. "How did you…? Never mind. Thanks, Paul."

He nodded and we walked onwards. I smiled at the clip. I passed my grocery bag onto Paul and put my hair up in the clip. I smiled widely as I took back my food.

"How does it look?" I asked. Paul nodded. I laughed at his awkwardness. I clung onto his arm once again. "The future looks bright for us."

"Really?" Paul replied, "Is that optimism or foresight that tells you that?"

"Both," I said, "I have a good feeling about us, Paul. We can stand up to anyone and anything without fear."

"So you want to tell the school we're dating?" Paul asked, a smirk crawling onto his face. My optimism vanished and I pouted.

"And have Ursula and Celeste and Melody and Zoey and Summer chase after me? I thought you wanted to protect me!" I said in a whiney tone. Paul chuckled lightly. We stopped walking and we looked at each other.

"I do," he said. I looked around to see we were stood where we had been when we last met in town. We both looked round at the sleepy town, the sun fast disappearing behind Mt. Mortar. I smiled at Paul as he looked back at me. I licked my lips nervously. Paul shifted awkwardly. I leant in to kiss him on the lips but at the last moment I moved and licked his cheek instead. Paul pulled away and wiped his cheek.

"Gross," he muttered, soundly rather like a three year old. I stuck my tongue out at him and ran off back towards the dorm. Paul chased after me. He soon caught up with me and wrapped his arms round my waist to stop me from running away. I swung him round a few times. We collapsed onto the grass. I was laughing, Paul was smirking. I wriggled into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"I love you," I told him. His smirk faded. I instantly kicked myself for saying such a thing. I moved to sit up but Paul's arms only held me tighter. I looked at him to find him looking at me. Slowly we both moved, leaning into each other. He captured my lips in a short but sweet kiss. He stroked my cheek with his thumb as he pulled away.

"I've got a good feeling about this," he muttered. I giggled as I kissed him again. When we parted this time, Paul had a small smile on his face. "I love you too."

We put our foreheads together, smiling genuinely at each other. After what seemed hours, Paul got to his feet. He pulled me up and put an arm round my shoulder as we walked back towards the dorm. Yes, I had a good feeling about this, a very good feeling.

**Hehe, Paul got licked. Never thought I'd write that in a sentence but there you go. So the next chapter is a time skip so be warned. Not a huge time skip, but a time skip none the less. **

**Until Wednesday (I've totally lost a day you know). Don't forget to read and review!**

**RSx**


	14. Of Time and Sleep

**Currently, I have way too many documents and programmes open. I don't know why though. I'm not doing anything! Anyway, back to the point of this author's note. Thanks to: xXCanaryXx, Foxgrl18, splitheart1120, LuckyTigger, AnimexLuver4Ever, LeafxGreenx3, Passionatekit and RaveOn21now22 for reviewing me :)**

**Like I said, there's a totally huge time skip of two… months ¬_¬ not that big, really, but a time skip none the less. So let's see how Paul and Dawn are doing :)**

**Chapter Fourteen: Of Time and Sleep**

"So if I were to tell you," I said as I stroked Paul's chest, "That Leaf and Gary were dating, what would you say?"

"About time?" Paul offered. I giggled into his uniform. We were laid on the grass by the lake side. Paul was on his back with his right arm round me and his left arm under his head. I was laid on my side, using him as my pillow while I gently stroked his sweat-vest. Paul was gently stroking my arm with his thumb in the way he usually did. "They admitted they liked each other almost two months ago. It's got old."

"True," I agreed, "We've been together two months?"

"Yeah," Paul replied, "That's two more months than Gary thought we would last."

"And the rest of the school apart from the girls," I commented.

"True," Paul said with a slow nod of the head. I let out a deep sigh as I sat up. I looked round the clearing but could only see Piplup swimming in the lake and Torterra enjoying the sunlight beside the lake. I smiled over at the large Pokémon. Paul was staring into the sky. I poked him in the side. He looked at me. "What?"

"What were you thinking?" I asked.

"Just stuff," he replied.

"Like?" I asked, poking him once more. A faint frown appeared on Paul's face but it soon vanished as he sat up.

"It's been two months and nothing's changed on the Entei/Raikou front," Paul said. I nodded. It was true things had been pretty silent for a while. Not even I had seen anything. There hadn't been any contact from Suicune but Raven had told me that Suicune was gone now. I was Suicune.

"Not even Raven sees anything," I commented, "She's a lot more in tune with this sort of thing."

"Hmm," Paul said, "Raven's been too preoccupied taunting and playing pranks on Lyra-senpai to notice anything else."

"That's what you get though," I replied with a sigh. I looked out over the lake. Lyra and Raven had met a while back and automatically had a great dislike for each other. They would fight, quarrel and genuinely annoy each other as much as possible. They played pranks on each other. Lyra had come into school one morning with red hair that was exactly the same shade as Silver's hair. Lyra had blushed when May had pointed this out and denied the similarity. The next day, Raven had black hair. When asked she said it was to show Ascot his hair colour rocked her socks. We didn't bother to ask what she meant. Not even Gary was brave enough to ask. Raven and Ascot were back together under one condition: Ascot would be trained by Paul. It was easier said than done but Ascot was showing some improvement. Raven wasn't kidding whenever she said he was useless.

May had decided that Drew was still an idiot and a meanie. After long deciding that she did prefer Drew to Brendan, she still refused to tell Drew straight out. She occasionally flirted with Brendan as a get back to Drew for something he said or did. Poor Drew was permanently confused by May. May loved it of course.

Ash and Misty were the best of friends. They hung out most of the time and the two of them seemed really happy. Ash was still dense and Misty still had her mallet just in case something happened. However, she usually used it to hit Gary or Drew for being idiots so Ash got off quite light. Even Paul had been hit over head with it a few times for his coy remarks.

Finally, Leaf and Gary were doing their 'are they, aren't they' dance most of the time. Gary would flirt with Leaf, Leaf would flirt with Gary and then they would act like nothing was going on. It was working for them, I suppose but it annoyed the rest of us. If anyone asked them if they were dating or not then they would because vague and deny any sort of feelings to each other. Raven had tried to understand it but had a tiny mental breakdown in the process. Since then, no one asked.

"Yo!" Ascot's voice rang out through the quietness of the lake. Paul and I looked round to see Raven and Ascot walking towards, hand in hand.

"Good morning," I replied. Raven beamed at me as they sat down close to us. Her hair was back to its usual sea green colour. That's probably the reason why she was smiling. Ascot stretched before he flumped backwards onto the grass.

"This is heaven," he said as he sprawled out. Raven prodded him in the side. "Ow. Give over."

"You're an idiot you know," she told him. Ascot merely shrugged. Raven looked at me. "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll turn up soon."

Raven cast a dark look towards Paul. Paul had no expression on his face which could only mean one thing: he was thinking how much of a weirdo Raven was. Raven suddenly kicked him, but Paul didn't even flinch.

"Stop attacking Paul," Ascot said boredly, "And stop doing that weird thing with the minds. It's weird."

"I bet it amuses you," I said, "You know in class when people get bored."

Raven nodded.

"Some of the guys are pervs," Raven said, "And the girls are twice as bad."

"I can imagine that," Ascot remarked as he sat up. Ascot was on Paul's mission and acted rather like Silver. Despite his goofiness, Ascot was a fountain of information when it came to Rocket Elites and plans for the futures. His father was on the board of directors like Raven's father was but where Raven's father handled the Academy, Ascot's father was leading the search for the legendaries. Ascot and his father didn't get along very well, or so I understood, which meant that Ascot had no worries about double crossing his father and working with Silver. What was it with Elite's and their children?

Ascot knew about Raven's secret like Paul knew about mine. The two guys had become friends since, I gathered, they liked the idea of talking about having weird girlfriends. However, the idea of Paul having a heart to heart conversation about anything that deep made me chuckle. I snuggled into Paul's chest. If only life could be like this forever. Paul and I were happy and I wanted nothing to take that away from me.

We walked towards the school fifteen minutes later. Paul and walked side by side like we usually did while Raven and Ascot messed around. Today Ascot had commented on Raven's hair and she had retaliated by trying to hit him with her notebook. They were currently chasing each other round the hall. Paul let out a sigh as he leant on the lockers beside mine. I quickly got my stuff and we walked to Paul's locker.

The school pretty much knew Paul and I were in a serious relationship. Ursula hated me twice as much as she did before but Celeste seemed to respect me for dating Paul. I think Celeste had come to realise I was actually quite a good Rocket in training. She rarely hung around with us anymore since she didn't like Ascot that much. It was a good thing because it meant that she wasn't flirting with the other guys. Ursula and Melody seemed to team up to bully me every so often when Paul disappeared, but usually I was left in the capable hands of Drew or Gary who were more than happy to snuff Ursula and her gang. I was glad the guys didn't hate me anymore. They also seemed to get on with Paul better than they did before. Drew and I had become good friends since Paul and Drew were best friends. Both Gary and Ash had accepted me as one of their closest friends as well, knowing full well that Paul really cared for me. Also since Ash and Misty were close friends, Ash saw me as a mutual friend of the girl he liked. I was like his information buddy whenever it came to Misty. The same went for Gary and Leaf as well as Drew and May. Yes, I had a very complicated life. As for the girls, they had accepted Paul into the fold. Leaf adored Paul in a weird brother-sister way for no apparent reason. May and Paul tended to have a love-hate relationship with a lot of banter. Paul usually won but it wasn't like they were keeping score. Misty and Paul didn't really have much to do with each other most of the time but they did get along whenever they were together, although Misty didn't care for his coy remarks much.

We walked to our homeroom and took up out seats at the back of the room. Ascot and Raven had seemingly disappeared but I was thankful for the quiet. I turned to Paul, who sat next to me.

"Who do you suppose will get here first?" I asked. Paul shrugged like he didn't care. I nudged him.

"Gary and Leaf," he replied, "Because Arceus hates me."

However, Paul was wrong. Misty was the first to join us. She looked tired as she sat down. There were dark rings under her eyes and she looked quite pale.

"Is everything alright?" I asked her. She nodded before putting her head on the table. Paul was reading a text book for history so I decided to go and check on Misty. She sat where Gary used to sit so she could sit close to Ash and Leaf. I sat in Leaf's seat and carefully stroked Misty's shoulder.

"You look a little tired," I said, "Didn't you sleep well?"

Misty shook her head but didn't look at me.

"I kept waking up," she mumbled into the table top, "Like I was getting an electric shock all the time. I'd be asleep and then I'd jump and I'd wake up and then I wouldn't be able to get to sleep for a while."

"That's not good," I replied, "Is there anything bothering you?"

"Not really," she said as she sat up. She looked at me, offering me a smile. "But it's just one of those things right?"

"I suppose," I agreed. I looked worriedly at Misty one more time but she waved me off.

"I'll be fine," she told me before putting her head back on the table and closing her eyes. I decided it was best to leave her to it. I carefully put a hand on her shoulder as I went to go back to Paul. I jumped as I received an electric shock off of her. It was odd, I thought, because it felt like my whole hand was buzzing. I shrugged it off anyway.

I sat back in my usual place and stared at Paul. He was reading with his left fist propping up his chin. He looked like a super model if I was truly honest. The kind of coolness with the handsomeness of his features made him look like a movie star. How had I got someone so cool and good looking as my boyfriend?

"Stop staring at me like that," he told me. I smiled and leant forwards to kiss his cheek. He looked up from his book before he looked at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied. He looked at me like he wasn't convinced. Usually in school time we adopted a no touch rule which meant no hugging, touching or kissing. This was the first time I had ever broken that rule. I smiled nervously at Paul, wondering what he was going to say. He didn't say anything. He sat up and leant towards me, kissing me gently on the lips. He pulled away quickly and returned to his book like nothing had happened.

"Wow," Misty commented. I glanced at her to see her looking at me. "I never thought Paul could do something so romantic without bursting into flames."

"He has his moments," I replied. Misty giggled as she sat up.

"I wish I could have my own Paul," she said, "But you know, a much more decent version."

"That hurt," Paul commented sarcastically.

"You have Ash," I said. Paul looked up from his textbook once more.

"Ketchum could never be anything like me in a million years," Paul said, "Nor could he be as romantic as I can be."

"You and romantic?" Misty asked, "Odd combination."

"I have to admit," I pitched in, "The odds on Paul being romantic are higher than those on Ash."

"You've got more chance on me being romantic than Carrot Top too," Paul mumbled.

"I heard that!" Misty yelled.

"What are you two arguing about?" Leaf asked as she and Gary walked into the room.

"Morning," Gary said to the three of us, used to the fact there was usually some sort of arguing in the morning. Paul greeted Gary with a nod before returning back to his book. Leaf took the opportunity to pounce on Paul while he wasn't looking. Paul growled as Leaf straightened up and skipped to her seat.

Ash arrived a few minutes later with a few snacks in his arms. Well, a few snacks in Ash-land: three bag of crisps, five chocolate bars, six bags of sweets and a large blueberry muffin.

"Morning!" Ash yelled, causing Misty to cringe in her seat. She was just dozing off again. Ash bit his lip in a worried motion. He placed the blueberry muffin in front of Misty and crept to his seat. Misty looked up at the muffin before sitting up and taking it gently into her hands. The two of them ate in silence, relying on Gary and Leaf to talk. Leaf stole a bag of sweets from Ash but he merely shrugged. I smiled at my friends getting along. My eyes drifted back onto Misty who seemed to be totally zoned out. She quietly nibbled on the muffin, not even listening to Gary and Leaf chatting. This struck me as weird.

Drew walked into the room looking as cool as ever. He paused at the front of class and looked rather confused.

"What's wrong?" Gary asked. Drew looked around the room.

"Where's May?" Drew asked.

"Not here," Paul replied, not even bothering to look at Drew. Drew looked around the room once more in a confused motion.

"Weird," Drew commented.

"I didn't see her this morning," Leaf said thoughtfully, "I just thought she'd already gone to school."

"What about you, Mist?" Ash asked Misty. Misty continued to nibble the muffin oblivious to the conversation around her. "Mist?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Misty replied hurriedly. Ash looked confused, as did Gary and Drew. Leaf stared at Misty like she had done something stupid. Even Paul looked up from his book in interest. "What?"

"Did you hear what I said?" Ash asked slowly. Misty frowned at him.

"Of course I did you idiot," she snapped before whacking him round the head with her mallet. I rolled my eyes.

"So..." Drew said, making Misty look at him, "Have you seen May this morning?"

"May?" Misty asked, looking around, "Oh, she's not here yet?"

Paul closed his book and let out a sigh.

"This can't be a good sign," he muttered, "If Carrot-Top is loosing her mind then something big must be going down."

"Hush, hush," I snapped. Paul looked up at the clock. It was ten minutes before class. Usually May was here by now. Drew shrugged and walked to his seat. He sat down and looked rather worried until May burst through the door five minutes later, knocking three people over as she ran into the room. She ran at such a speed, she tripped and flew over her desk, taking out Drew in the process. She would've knocked me over too if it wasn't for Paul pulling me out of the way at the last second. I was suddenly aware that I was sat on Paul's lap in an awkward position. It was awkward because I threatened to fall off the other side of him into Ash.

"Watch where you're going, Maple," Drew snapped as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. May slowly climbed onto her chair and sprawled out over her desk. Drew looked down at her. "You alright?"

"I made it," she said, "I over slept."

"That's because you sleep like a monster," Drew commented. May glared at him.

"At least I'm not a grass-haired monster that needs watering every three hours to retain 'much needed' moisture," she retorted.

"Hey!" Drew yelled, "I'll have you know, I moisturise to keep my skin healthy."

"And if you keep it up," Paul said, "You may stand a chance in getting that Prom Queen title you've always wanted."

"Shut up you," Drew growled. I laughed as I climbed off Paul and sat back in my seat. Drew carefully sat back in his own.

"What is it with people sleeping today?" I thought to myself. First Misty's lack of sleep, then May's too much sleep. It was strange. I shrugged it off, looking at Paul who had returned once more to his book. I smiled fondly at him before mindlessly doodling in a page of my notebook. I only came to realise at the end of the lesson that I had drawn a picture of Suicune. Paul confiscated it from me, crumpling it into a ball and shoving it into his pocket as our teacher told me to answer a few questions. I replied and sat down. Paul and I looked at each other for a few seconds until we became focused in our studies once more.

**Ooooooo… I like 'o's, they're all circular and o-ish. No, I'm not drunk, just in a random mood tonight (I can legally drink over here so no telling me off). So the next chapter will be… *opens yet another document to have a looksie* Oh, it's that chapter. Here's a sneak peak for you :)**

_**Slowly the chair turned round and Gary was revealed to us. Gary was smirking like he was a villain out of a James Bond movie. Any minute now a Skitty would appear on his lap and he would stroke it in a rather inappropriate way.**_

**Yeah… The next chapter's sort of random… But enjoyable? Until next time, have a good week! And review!**

**RSx**


	15. Of Radio and Champions

**Here's a random chapter here for you guys, away from the likes of school and stuff. But before the chapter starts, round of applause to: Foxgrl18, splitheart1120, AnimexLuver4Ever, LeafxGreenx3, xXCanaryXx, RaveOn21now22 and LuckyTigger who reviewed me! Wooo!**

**Sorry I did do a time skip last chapter but if I'm honest, I felt it was being a little repetitive going to school, going to the lake, blah blah but hopefully you can forgive me :) Now for Chapter Fifteen! Enjoy please!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon :(**

**Chapter Fifteen: Of Radio and Champions**

Paul's hand shifted on my back slightly. I glanced up at him. He was too busy looking up at the Radio Station to notice me though. I smiled at him.

"It's so nice of you to bring me out here, Paul," I said, "I've never been to Goldenrod before."

Paul smirked at me before he took my hand and we walked towards the entrance of the station. I looked round the entrance, instantly rushing over to a few posters that lined the walls. I clapped my hands as I read the Beuna's Password poster. I pointed at it, showing Paul.

"Can we go and meet Beuna?" I asked. Paul rolled his eyes before walking to the front desk. I knew he was arranging to get on the next tour of the station. It was the plan after all. I took my pocket computer from my skirt pocket and typed in a few things. The Director lived on the top floor. How were we supposed to get there?

Undercover missions always made me nervous but I knew as long as I was with Paul, nothing could go wrong. We weren't wearing our usual uniform for raids. Paul was wearing some jeans and a black t-shirt under a purple jacket. He looked like a tourist. I was wearing similar clothes: a denim skirt with a high neck pink top with white sandals. I had my hair up in a white clip in its usual style. The rest of my hair hung loose. I fiddled a little with a necklace I wore. I didn't really like necklaces but since I had to look normal, I wore it and also a few bangles on my wrist.

"Hey, good looking," a teenager said as he strolled over to me, "You look cute."

Great, I thought, but I managed to smile at him. He looked about the same age as I was with black hair. He wore a cap, but his fringe escaped through a whole in it. He was wearing a red jacket and black cropped trousers.

"The name is Ethan," he greeted.

"It's very nice to meet you," I replied, "I should really get back to my boyfriend."

I walked towards Paul who was still stood talking to the receptionist. Ethan pulled me back towards him. I let out a small yelp as I was boomeranged back to where I had been stood before.

"He's busy," Ethan stated. I looked nervously at Paul, willing him to look over. "So, don't I get your name?"

"I'm sorry, but I shouldn't really talk to strangers," I said, trying to step round him. Ethan stopped me from going anywhere. I bit my lip. "Please, just let me go."

"And let an incredibly cute girl pass me by without getting her name?" Ethan asked, "I think not!"

At his raised voice, Paul glanced over at me. He straightened up. I flinched slightly at the glare Ethan was getting, but Ethan was too busy staring at me so he didn't notice.

"Troublesome, do you have your Pokégear with you?" Paul asked. I nodded, jumping round Ethan and walking quickly towards Paul. I handed Paul my Pokégear and he passed it over to the woman at the counter. She passed it me when she had finished with it. I checked to see what she had done with it. There was now a radio card in it. I smiled at the woman, bidding her a thanks.

"The tour will begin on the hour, so please feel free to have a look round on this floor," the receptionist said. Paul and I nodded before walking off. Paul put his hand on my back as we walked away.

"Who's the fan club?" Paul muttered to me. I saw Ethan out of the corner of my eye. It seemed like he was following us.

"He says his name is Ethan," I replied.

"Hayden?" Paul asked.

"I'm trying to get something on him," Drew's voice replied through my earpiece. I leaned closer into Paul.

"It's so sweet you've brought me here," I told him, "I've always wanted to see the observation deck here."

"You've told me enough times," Paul replied. He led me to a seat and we sat down, looking around at the room. I looked for the entrances, the cameras and how many guards would be on duty. Paul was watching Ethan. I turned to Paul, putting my hand on his knee. Paul glanced at me.

"What?" he asked. I knew he wasn't used to this behaviour but we were supposed to be acting like a couple. I smiled up at him.

"I'm just glad I'm with you," I told him in an oddly sweet voice which made Paul's cool façade falter for a split second. His hands twitched slightly, like he was stopping himself from face palming.

"Aww," Drew commented over the earpiece, "Young love. Doesn't it just want to make you hurl?"

I snuggled into Paul's chest like I usually would. Paul put a hand on my back once more. I drew circles on his arms with my finger.

"So after this what are we going to do?" I asked.

"Lunch?" Paul suggested, "Or there's the department store."

"Shopping?" I asked sitting up suddenly. Paul sweat-dropped. "You really are the best!"

I threw myself at Paul, hugging him tightly. Paul awkwardly put his arms round me, leaning close to my ear.

"You are so dead later for this," he whispered. I giggled before pulling away from him.

"You're so awful," I scolded him. I winked not soon after, making a vein in his forehead twitch before he glanced across at something. Ethan was stood watching us. I looked round the room, doing a quick scout around at the area, but appearing like I was just having a nosey at my surroundings.

My eyes slid onto Gary and Ash who were stood not so far away, talking to an assistant. Gary was doing his usual flirt routine while Ash was eating a doughnut.

"I wonder how many people will be wanting to go on the tour," I said.

"Quite a few, I'd imagine," Paul replied.

"Bingo," Drew said suddenly, "I've found him."

"It's popular?" I asked Paul. He nodded.

"Ethan Gold," Drew explained. I saw Gary and Ash break off from the assistant and walk towards the main counter. "Wow, he's from New Bark Town. He used to live next to… Lyra?"

Paul rubbed his head. I looked worriedly at him.

"Your head ache again?" I asked. Paul nodded slowly. "I told you to take some tablets but no. You have to be Mr Tough Guy don't you."

"Next time I'll remember that," he replied.

"Uh-oh," Drew muttered. Now that wasn't good. Whenever Drew said uh-oh when he was on the radio meant that either something was going to explode in three seconds or we would be running for our lives in ten seconds. "He works for Lance."

Paul looked up at me.

"I'll live," he said. I nodded. I hugged him closer to me and he smiled. He looked up at the clock. "We should get going. The tour starts in five minutes."

"That went fast," I commented as I jumped to my feet. Paul was soon on his feet too. He took my hand. "I can't wait. Tour! Tour! Tour!"

"What have you been eating?" Paul asked.

"The question is, what haven't you been eating," I retorted. Paul smiled at me once more before we walked to where the tour guide was waiting for us.

Ash and Gary joined us a few seconds later, chatting about Whitney and how hot she was. They were gloating how they had both got badges from that gym. Paul rolled his eyes at them.

"Do you have any badges?" someone asked Paul. I looked to see Ethan staring at Paul.

"I'm not a trainer," Paul replied.

"Really?" Ethan asked. I gripped Paul's hand tighter. "You look like you are."

"I get that a lot," Paul said, "Are you?"

"You could say that I am a Pokémon trainer," Ethan said, "But then I'd be selling myself short."

"Cocky, aren't you?" Paul commented.

"I have all the badges from Kanto and Johto," Ethan went on, "I came second in the Indigo League last year."

"No way!" Ash said, suddenly tuning into the conversation. "I saw you on TV!"

"I know, aren't I great?" Ethan said.

"Ah man," Ash went on, "Harry, Harry, Harry."

"What?" Gary snapped. He had been chatting to a girl who was wearing a very short skirt, until Ash interrupted him.

"It's him," Ash said. Gary looked at Ethan before his jaw dropped.

"You came number two last year in the Indigo League," Gary said, "Wow. You're awesome!"

Paul shuffled away from them slightly, bowing his head to my ear.

"They're not joking either," Paul muttered, "They really do worship him."

I giggled loudly making Ethan look at me. Gary glanced at me. Ash looked curiously at me.

"What's so funny?" Ethan asked. Paul and I looked at each other. Gary put an arm round Ethan's shoulder and hung off of him slightly.

"Dude, how did you get such a cute girlfriend?" Gary asked, "Where can I get one?"

Paul managed to hide his annoyance.

"We've known each other for years," I explained, "But I live in Saffron City in Kanto so we rarely see each other. He always misses me when I'm gone."

"And I miss the silence when you're here," Paul replied. I elbowed him in the ribs, making Gary and Ash smirk. This was our usual behaviour when we were outside school. They were used to this.

"Now, if you'd like to follow me," the tour guide said suddenly, making all attention slide onto him. I held Paul's hand tightly.

We were shown round the radio station by a chirpy enough guy who liked the sound of his voice way too much. We watched the presenters in the booths for a while. They would wave to us and offer us happy smiles. I kept pointing out things to Paul, such as the cool microphones that hung from the ceiling or more pointless things like posters and pictures on the wall. Paul reacted like he was terribly bored. I looked round to see Ethan being crowded by Gary and Ash still. Ethan looked slightly annoyed he could no longer talk to me but he was getting one big ego trip from his new found fans.

"And here is where we record Professor Oak's show," the guide was saying, pointing to a door of a large recording room. People peered into the room but looked disappointed. "The Professor only comes here once a week to record his show. He's far too busy to come in everyday, you see. Now, if we go up the stairs-"

The lights went off. Everyone looked around in mild panic. Ethan instantly had a Pokéball in his hand. The guide fell silent, looking nervously around.

"Do you have a blackout?" Drew asked.

"I'm scared," I replied, hugging Paul's arm. Paul patted my hands in a comforting manner.

"It'll be OK," he told me.

"There must be a problem with the generator," Ethan said. A piercing alarm went off next. Everyone covered their ears.

"Arceus, Hayden," Paul mumbled barely loud enough for me to hear. I cringed at the sound as I pressed my palms against my ears.

"It hurts!" Ash yelled loudly.

"Everyone, please move to the exits," the guide ordered. People wasted no time scrambling for the exits. Paul suddenly disappeared from my side. I stood oddly for a few minutes before my eyes focused on Ethan running in the opposite direction to everyone else. I scowled. Trust the boy hero to try and mess this up for us. I ran in the same direction, clumsily bumping into Ethan before he could get to the stairs.

"I'm scared!" I told Ethan, almost in hysterics, "And I can't find my boyfriend!"

Ethan seemed conflicted for a few seconds until he took my hand. He offered me a smile.

"I'll look after you," he said, "But I have to check on something first."

I nodded and he led me up the stairs.

"Dawn, what the hell are you doing?" Drew asked in my ear.

"Dawn?" Paul's voice said. It was laced with worry and concern but there was no way I could respond to them.

"She's with Ethan," Drew explained quickly.

"I can't believe your good for nothing boyfriend left you," Ethan said over the alarm.

"We must have got separated when everyone rushed out," I replied, "He wouldn't just leave me."

"It's always the nice girls who get the horrible guys," Ethan said.

"Dawn," Paul's voice said, "Get out of there."

I ignored him. I latched onto Ethan's arm as something caught my eye. It was Ash, I was sure of it. I yelped as I grabbed onto Ethan's arm. He flinched.

"Over there," I said, pointing in the opposite direction to Ash, "I saw something move."

Ethan nodded.

"Thanks a million, Dawn," Ash said through the ear piece. He had disappeared by now. I began biting my finger nails as Ethan pulled away from me and walked down the hall way. He turned the corner but no one was there. I glanced round nervously. There was no one else in sight. Ethan walked towards me, looking confused.

"Must have been a trick of your eyes," Ethan told me with a shrug. He took my hand once more and led me further along the hall. The alarm stopped ringing suddenly. There were a couple of loud noises indicating that the emergency doors had shut. Ethan sweat-dropped. "Well, that's not good. Who ever is in here is very good at breaking into places."

"Who would want to come here?" I asked.

"Rocket," Ethan replied, "Have you heard of Rocket Academy?"

"Only briefly," I said.

"Well, it's where Rocket takes all the children to train them as grunts," Ethan explained, "They're brainwashed and bribed into doing bad things. They'll do anything for a tiny bit of cash."

"That's awful," I said, sounding shocked, "What do they do there?"

"They learn how to break into places and kidnap people," Ethan explained, "And steal Pokémon."

"How do you know this?" I asked, backing away slightly.

"I'm one of the good guys," Ethan replied, smiling at me reassuringly, "I'm trying to bring down Rocket."

"Isn't that dangerous?" I asked.

"It is," Ethan replied with a nod, "But if I can help pretty little girls like you, I don't care about the risk."

"Ethan," a voice snapped. I turned round to see a man strolling towards us wearing a cape. He had spiky red hair and a stony face. "Why have you got a girl here?"

"She followed me," Ethan explained, "I didn't want to leave just in case the Rockets got her."

"Good thinking," the red head said after a thought. I looked the man up and down.

"Oh my Arceus," Drew gasped, "That's Lance!"

There was a pause over the radio as I continued to look at Lance. He was the Lance? Champion Lance? Lance who was the most wanted, most feared person in Johto? The man who was leading the revolution against Team Rocket?

I thought he'd be taller.

"Lance? No way," Ash gasped.

"Where?" Gary asked.

"He's found Dawn and Ethan," Drew explained.

"Paul," Gary warned, "Keep to the mission. Dawn can look after herself."

"Fine," Paul spat.

"Who are you?" I asked Lance, as I hid behind Ethan. The Champion looked at me.

"Lance," he replied. I gasped loudly.

"Oh my Arcues!" I yelled, "It's him! Ethan, it's him!"

"She's annoying," Lance remarked. I glared at Lance before marching towards him, pointing my finger at him.

"Hey! No one's allowed to call _me_ annoying apart from my boyfriend!" I yelled.

"Where is your boyfriend?" Lance asked. I froze. Had I just yelled at Lance? I looked down at the floor.

"He's gone," I replied pathetically, "He left me when the alarm went off."

"Rocket will be heading to the Director's Office," Lance stated, ignoring me, "We should head there."

"Come on," Ethan said to me.

"What is your name?" Lance asked, glaring at me. I shivered under his gaze. His eyes were so cold, colder than Paul's could be and harsher than Silver's. I felt myself tremble. I bit my lip as Lance continued to glare at me. "Well?"

"Paula," I blurted.

"Paula?" Drew asked in my ear.

"Do you mind, Hayden, I'm concentrating," Paul's annoyed tone said. Since Paul couldn't hear me, he thought Drew was talking to him. I tried not to smile, I forced my face into a scared expression. Lance looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Paula?" he repeated. I nodded. "Come along, then."

Ethan led me behind Lance as we climbed up several flights of stairs. This tower was huge! Everyone had disappeared. We walked at a calm pace until Lance stopped. I peered over Lance's shoulder to see Ash fiddling with something.

"Hey!" Lance and Ethan barked loudly. Ash froze and slowly turned to look at us.

"Er… Help me. I'm… er, lost?" Ash offered. Lance and Ethan took a few steps forwards. Ash ran off. Ethan chased after him, leaving me with Lance. I looked up at the older man, biting my bottom lip.

"We should continue," Lance told me, "Ethan will catch up soon."

"But," I said. I was cut off by Lance roughly dragging me away. I tried not to fight him off. I didn't like being grabbed like this. Lance's hand was tight around my wrist. I couldn't shake him off without him noticing. We climbed the last flight of stairs and found ourselves in a large office.

I looked round. It was the director's office. There was a large chair behind a desk but the back was turned to us.

"I know you're there," Lance stated. Slowly the chair turned round and Gary was revealed to us. Gary was smirking like he was a villain out of a James Bond movie. Any minute now a Skitty would appear on his lap and he would stroke it in a rather inappropriate way. Lance, on the other hand, looked annoyed. "Who are you?"

"The name's Oak," Gary said, "Gary Oak."

"Trust you to come here," Lance said, finally letting go of me, "What are you here for?"

"Me? I'm here for a good time," Gary replied with a shrug.

"Really?" Lance asked, "As I see it, you're out of your league. You face me with no back up or friends. How stupid."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a little case. As Lance and Gary began to banter, I calmly began typing on my hand held computer, tracking where Ash was. Ash was with Paul. They had seemingly teamed up against Ethan. I guess they were hoping Lance would run after Ash, not Ethan.

"Calm down," Drew was saying over the radio, "Everything's fine."

I slipped the computer back into my pocket and looked up to see that Gary and Lance were now in a fist to fist fight. Lance easily over powered Gary and tied his hands round his back. Gary tried to get himself free, but with no luck. Lance tied Gary's feet together and left him propped against the table. Gary yelled at Lance. Funnily, I remember the last time I saw Gary tied up like this. Gary should be used to it.

Lance grabbed my arm once more and led me out of the office.

"There's more of them," Lance told me, "So be careful."

"More?" I asked, "How many more?"

"Three probably," Lance replied, "They usually work in groups."

We stopped at the bottom of the stairs to see Ash and Paul running towards us. They skidded to a halt. I looked up at Lance, then at Ash and Paul. Lance let go of me and walked towards the two lads. Paul and Ash were instantly ready for a fight. Ash was wearing his utility belt around his waist. I wondered briefly if I should have worn one myself.

Lance attacked Ash and Paul. Ash was knocked flying while Paul was thrown in the opposite direction. I yelped as Paul landed oddly on his foot. He cringed and dropped to one knee. Lance was fighting Ash now. Ash kept trying to duck Lance's attacks but a few caught him. Ash fell onto the floor hard. His belt shot over to my feet shortly before Lance punched his jaw. Ash was unconscious in seconds.

Lance turned to Paul. Paul seemingly hadn't noticed that Ash was out cold. I watched Paul as Lance walked over to him. His ankle was badly hurt. I picked up Ash's belt and began rummaging through it. Please, please let there be something to help Paul in it. I looked up as I saw Paul being thrown across the hall. He collided with a wall with a sickening crunch. He slid down the wall, only to be caught by Lance by his jacket. Paul, somehow, managed to dodge a punch. Lance ended up punching the wall instead. Paul ducked out of the way while Lance recovered from hitting the wall.

"This is the best the Academy has to offer?" Lance asked, "Three weakling boys?"

"Says the man in a cape," Paul replied.

I pulled out a needle from the utility belt. I looked at it a few times before taking off the protective cover.

Paul was stumbling on his feet. Lance readied himself for another attack. I leapt forwards, plunging the needle into Lance's shoulder. The grown man let out a cry before elbowing me across my face. I fell to the floor, jaw hurting. Lance steadied himself.

"Stupid girl," he snarled at me. I got to my feet. "Why are you trying to help them?"

"I am them," I replied. Lance's eyes widened as I run straight into him. I knocked him clean off his feet. I heard his head hit the floor and he was out cold immediately. I looked up at Paul.

Paul stumbled to the wall before using it to sit on the floor. I rushed to his side to see if I could help.

"It's just a sprain," he told me. He moved his foot round in a circle. "I landed odd."

"I'm sorry," I said, "I should've done something sooner."

"He took down Ketchum, Oak and me," Paul told me, "I'm glad you're not as stupid as that."

He looked at my face. He gently stroked my chin where Lance had caught me. He wiped my lip with his thumb, taking a little blood from the corner of my mouth.

"As much as I hate to break up this lovely scene," Drew said, "May I remind you, you've still not completed the mission."

"Aw, Drew!" a new voice yelled, "It was just getting mushy!"

"Shut it, Monster," Drew replied.

"Weed-Head," May retorted. I giggled as I saw Paul take out his ear piece. He grimaced at the volume.

"Where are you three?" I asked.

"Misty's on the ground," May told me, "I'm in the CCTV room and Leaf should be with you… now."

"Hi, guys," Leaf said as she appeared from some stairs. She gave us a little wave. "I'm your clean up crew for today."

"Cuff him," Paul ordered as he attempted to get to his feet.

"How are we going to take him back with us?" Leaf asked as she did as she was told. She rolled Lance onto his front and cuffed his hands together behind his back with a pair of metal handcuffs. Paul threw her another pair. She looked confused at the second pair of cuffs but shrugged and put them on Lance too. I helped Paul take a few steps forwards. Leaf moved onto Ash, patting his face lightly.

"Gary's in the office above," I told Leaf as Ash came round. Ash slowly rolled onto his back.

"Awh man," Ash moaned, "It feels like my jaw's broken."

"We could all hope for that," Paul replied. Ash shot him a dark look as he got to his feet. Leaf disappeared up the stairs to find Gary. Ash looked at Lance, confused as to how the man was unconscious.

Gary and Leaf returned a few minutes later. Gary was rubbing his wrists.

"Man, that was hard," Gary said, "That guy is seriously strong."

"He is twenty five," Leaf commented, "Of course he can beat you three up."

"You got what we came here for?" Paul asked. Gary nodded as he pulled two feathers out of his pocket. We looked at the feathers oddly. One was orange and green while the other was the purest, sparkliest white I had ever seen.

"We came all this way for two measly feathers?" Ash asked.

"Dude, that's just not right," Drew agreed through the radio.

"Ooo," Leaf said, taking the feather's from Gary, "Shiny."

"We should leave," Gary stated.

"Wait," I said before anyone could disappear. I pointed at Lance on the floor. "What are we doing with him?"

Gary looked at Ash. They both looked at Leaf and the three of them grinned evilly.

~R~

I saw the newspaper the next day. I bought it and took it to school with me. The ten of us crowded round the table as we looked over the front page. There was a large photo of Lance and Ethan, cuffed back to back. Lance was wearing a bow round his neck. They were both unconscious. We laughed as we read the first paragraph:

_Most wanted criminal, Lance, was found gift wrapped for Giovanni yesterday in Goldenrod Radio Tower…_

**Yeah, a seemingly random chapter there for you. Hehe, I just like writing about raids. School would be epic if you got to steal things for homework… not that I'm saying that's right or anything.**

**RosieShiba doesn't like stealing of any shape or form… unless its for the greater good. **

**Anyway, once again I shall send you a sneaky peak at what's to come in the next instalment of Rocket Academy :)**

"_**Do you really think that we would've become friends on our own?" Ash asked, "I mean, Mr Playboy, Mr Dense, Mr Grumpy and Mr Grasshead friends?"**_

"_**Again with the grasshead," Drew muttered.**_

**Oooo, what will happen next? Hehe. Until Wednesday! Please review!**

**RSx**


	16. Of Ice Cream and Truths

**I swear I'm loosing days. But here is the next chapter of Rocket Academy. Just a quick note to you lovely people, I have a new fic out called Harmony of White Roses and also I have a new blog that will be filled with pictures, sneak peaks and general updates. So take a look at both :) Read at the end for the blog address. **

**Now, thank you to my reviewers: Foxgrl18, xXCanaryXx, LeafxGreenx3, LuckyTigger, RaveOn21now22, AnimexLuver4Ever, splitheart1120 and ninetailsgirl94. Thanks a lot!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Pokémon :(**

**Chapter Sixteen: Of Ice Cream and Truths **

Raven looked at me weirdly as I bit into a Peacha berry. She was halfway spooning some ice cream to her mouth when she stopped and stared at me.

"You what?" she asked me, not quite believing what had been said. Misty and May were looking at each other like something very, very weird had gone off. May's ice cream slopped from her spoon back into the bowl, as she continued to look at Misty. Misty's mouth was slightly open, her fingers squeezing the straw of her slush drink. Everyone turned their eyes on me.

"What?" they asked. I flinched at the volume.

"Leaf said she can't come," I repeated, "She's out with… Gary."

"What!"

I sweat-dropped.

"Since when?" Misty roared.

"That's not possible!" May screamed.

"About time!" Raven snapped. Misty and May glared at her as I giggled lightly.

"She didn't tell us?" Misty asked.

"She only told me when she walked off when we got into town," I explained. Misty and May growled at me, making me hide behind my half eaten peacha berry. Raven was back to eating her ice cream like there was nothing wrong. No doubt Misty and May would take some more convincing.

I quietly nibbled at my berry as the two girls continued to stare at me. Sure, I was behind a big conspiracy to get Leaf with Gary… Oh wait, I was. I let out a sigh.

"Stupid Gary," May muttered as she scooped some of her ice cream sundae into her mouth, "He's almost as idiotic as that Drew."

"Did I hear my name being called?"

May froze before she slapped her head. Misty and Raven turned slightly in their chairs to see three out of the five boys walking towards us. Ascot and Gary weren't present. May was rubbing her head.

"What's wrong?" Drew asked May, looking concerned.

"Brain freeze!" May yelled. Drew sweat-dropped.

"At least you can get brain freeze," Paul muttered, "I'm not sure Hayden or Ketchum can."

"Hey!" Ash and Drew yelled at Paul. I giggled as Paul walked towards me. He dragged a chair over to the table and sat down.

"So what are you three doing here?" Raven asked. She looked over at Paul, smiling. "I thought you'd manage one day without Dawn, Paulie."

"Shut up," Paul told her.

"Ash wanted food," Drew said.

"Drew wanted ice cream," Ash added.

"And ta-dah," Drew continued, "We decided to come here: the only ice cream parlour in town."

"When you say it like that," May said, "You sound like a couple of stalkers."

"And why would I waste my time 'stalking' you?" Drew snapped.

"Because you're a loser and have nothing better to do," May replied.

"If there's any one here who should be accused of stalking, it's Paul," I commented. The whole table fell silent as I mindlessly bit into my peacha berry. I paused as I realised I was being stared at. I glanced at Paul, who was looking at me with an unimpressed expression on his face. "What?"

"Paul's a stalker?" Misty asked.

"I can see it," Drew said with a coy smile.

"You'd be much better as one, Drew," May commented, pointing her spoon at him. Drew looked confused for a few seconds. "Because you can blend into the bushes because of your hair."

Drew rubbed his hair before storming off into the ice cream parlour. Ash followed him, chuckling at his behaviour. Paul put his arm on the back of my chair, watching his friends disappear into the shop. I continued to eat my berry.

"So…" Raven said, causing Paul and I to look at her.

"Shut up," Paul said before she could continue.

"But-"

"No."

"Why n-"

"Because I said so," Paul told her. Raven pouted. She looked at her spoon, her ice cream and finally Paul. Paul was looking at a menu by this time, not paying any attention to Raven. Carefully Raven scooped up some ice cream on her spoon and turned it round like she was going to fire the ice cream at Paul. Paul didn't even look up from the menu. "Don't even think about it."

Raven pouted again. She aimed for a new target, i.e. Drew as he walked out of the parlour. The blob of ice cream sailed through the air in a graceful manner, hitting him between the eyes. Paul glanced up as Drew squeaked like a little girl. May and Raven fell into a fit of laughter while Misty rolled her eyes as she sipped her drink. Drew walked over to the table, slamming his ice cream onto the table top before he went to fetch a chair. Ash returned a few minutes later with the biggest sundae I had ever seen. He put it down on the table before retrieving a chair like Drew had done. Ash smiled at Misty, offering her a spoon. She smiled at him.

"What are you four up to today?" Ash asked.

"Shopping," Misty replied, "May wants more sugar, Raven wants more craft materials and I want some new swim gear."

"Swim gear?" Drew asked, "Like bikinis?"

"Pervert," Misty yelled as she hit Drew on the head with her mallet. Paul eyed the orange haired girl weirdly for a few seconds.

"Where do you get that from?" Paul asked, "It's like you pull it out of thin air."

"Wouldn't you like to know," Misty snapped. May and I sweat-dropped.

"She stole it from Silph Co. in the first week of first year," May explained, "It's one of a kind, apparently."

"Explains a lot," Drew said as he rubbed his head.

"Has it only occurred to you that she has that?" Ash asked, smirking across at Paul. Paul frowned.

"Of course not," Paul snapped, "It just struck me as weird that it suddenly appears from time to time without a proper explanation."

"That's true," Ash agreed as he spooned some ice cream into his mouth. Misty picked up the other spoon Ash had brought and gingerly helped herself to the sundae. Raven eyed the two very carefully for a second. May seemed to watch them carefully too. Drew was wiping his face with a tissue, trying to get the ice cream from his face. Paul smirked across at Ash and Misty for a few seconds.

"Do you have a camera?" he muttered to me. I pulled out my hand held computer and passed it to Paul. He glanced at it for a few seconds, wondering why I had it on me, before he shrugged and turned on the camera application on. I watched him as he took a picture of Misty and Ash eating the same sundae. I smiled slightly as he passed it back to me. "Blackmail."

"Of course," I replied.

"What are you two doing?" Drew asked as he looked at Paul and me. Everyone looked at us.

"Sharing the usual terms of endearments," I told Drew, "The honeys and the lovey dovies."

"You're a bad influence on her, Paul," May told Paul. Paul shrugged. Raven suddenly turned round, looking for something.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. Raven didn't reply. She frantically looked from one direction to the other, then above her. Paul raised an eyebrow before leaning forwards. Everyone was staring at Raven now as she continued to look around in a rather confused manner. Everyone was quiet until her head shot up. She was staring at something behind Paul.

"Paul?"

The use of my boyfriend's name made everyone, apart from Raven and Paul, jump in surprise. Paul lazily turned round to look at Wyre, Silver and Ascot. Ascot looked rather bored but he smiled over at Raven. His brow furrowed suddenly as he saw Raven's expression. Raven was staring at Wyre. Her eyes were boring into his head like there was something she needed to concentrate on.

I looked between Raven and Wyre for a few seconds before Raven seemed to snap out of her transfixed mood. She smiled wildly at Ascot.

"Is something wrong?" Ascot asked, rubbing his head. Raven looked confused.

"No," she said uncertainly. Silver looked at Raven before his eyes travelled onto Paul.

"What a nice little mother's meeting you've got here," Silver remarked, "Where's Gary?"

"With Leaf," Drew replied. I felt a chill run up my spine. I looked round directly into the eyes of Wyre. I shuddered at the gaze he was giving me.

"Paul," Wyre said, "A word?"

Paul nodded and got to his feet. Wyre led him away from us. Silver watched the two leave. Paul walked with his hands in his pockets, like he usually did. Wyre walked weirdly with his hands behind his back. I glanced up at Silver, noticing a worried expression on his face.

"There is something wrong," Ascot's voice snapped all of us out of the blue. We turned to see Raven and Ascot arguing.

"There's not," Raven said, smiling at Ascot, "Really. I don't know where my mind went then."

"You sure?" Ascot asked. Raven nodded.

"I'm starting to dislike Wyre," Silver muttered, "He's jumping the gun on this one."

"You mean he's disrespecting you?" I asked. Silver looked at me before he nodded slightly. I frowned, looking round for any signs of Paul.

"I'm surprised he'd do that," May said, "Surely he knows you're scary."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Silver said as May went bright red. Drew laughed heartily at her. Silver rubbed his eyes tiredly. Maybe Wyre had found out about what Silver was trying to do. If Silver and the guys were trying to stop Rocket then they would be traitors. They'd be imprisoned right away, maybe even executed. I shuddered.

"Wyre's always been a little… Uh oh," Raven said, her face falling, "Something evil this way comes."

She ducked under the table, causing everyone to look round in worry. Silver looked round to see Paul storming towards us.

"Paul?" Silver asked. Drew and Ash got to their feet upon seeing Paul's expression. He looked mad, madder than mad in fact. May and Misty edged away slightly.

"What's going on?" Ash asked.

"Nothing," Paul spat. He glanced at me. His eyes lingered on me for a few seconds before he looked behind him. Silver looked up at Wyre who was making his way towards us once again. A smirk coloured his face.

"I wouldn't expect you to run off like that, Paul Shinji," Wyre continued, as if Paul had walked off in the middle of a conversation, "I thought you were emotionless."

Raven peered over the table before disappearing again.

"She's smart," May muttered before ducking under the table to join Raven. Misty looked worriedly at Ash.

"What's going on?" Ash snapped. I don't think I've ever heard that tone of voice coming from Ash before.

"It doesn't concern you," Wyre barked at Ash, "This is between Paul and I."

"Wyre," Silver said. Wyre shot Silver a look that made Silver take a step back. It took Silver a few seconds to regain his composure. In the mean time, Wyre grabbed onto my shoulder. I looked up at Wyre, confused to what was going on. Paul's eyes widened before they narrowed at Wyre.

"It's simple really, Paul," Wyre snarled, "You have no choice."

Paul simply stepped forwards and slapped Wyre's hand off of me. Paul grabbed Wyre's wrist and twisted it. Wyre winced in pain for a few seconds until Paul spoke.

"You'll leave her out of this," Paul told him, "If you hurt her I will kill you."

There was something in Paul's tone that made even Silver shudder. Wyre pulled away from Paul, but Paul refused to let go of Wyre's wrist until there was a crack and Wyre winced in pain once more. Slowly, Paul let go of Wyre.

"Next time you threaten Dawn or me, you should probably remember that I don't have plenty of emotions," Paul snapped, "And it only takes one to kill you."

Wyre stumbled backwards before walking off. Silver raised an eyebrow as the other elite walked off, clutching his wrist. Raven and May emerged from under the table, both looking a little worried and scared.

"OK," May said loudly, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Paul replied.

"That wasn't nothing, Paul," Misty snapped, "If he was threatening you and Dawn, we have a right to know."

"Yeah, Dawn's our friend!" May agreed. Silver put a hand on Paul's shoulder before Paul could reply.

"What did he say?" Silver asked.

"He wanted me to work for him," Paul said after a pause, "He threatened to hurt Dawn if I didn't agree."

"So you said no anyway?" May shrieked, "Now Dawn's going to get hurt!"

"Shut up," Paul snapped, "Like I would put her in any danger."

"So you broke his wrist to prove a point?" Drew asked, "How Paul of you."

Ash and Drew slipped back into their seats, sighing loudly. Silver pushed Paul back into his seat before he pulled out his Pokégear. He typed something in before raising it to his ears. Silver waited a few seconds before he spoke.

"Oak," Silver said, "It's Silver. I need you to meet us at the ice cream parlour ASAP. Bring your girlfriend too."

Silver closed the gear up and dragged another chair to the table. He sat down looking pensive.

"It's time we included the girls in this," Silver said finally.

"Dawn already knows," Paul stated.

"Dawn knows what?" May asked.

"What have you gotten her into, Paul?" Misty asked accusingly. I looked worriedly at Paul. I carefully slid my hand into his. He held it tightly. Wyre had unnerved him totally. I offered him a smile but he didn't react to it.

"How did Dawn find out?" Silver asked.

"She overheard us talking," Paul replied, turning to look at Silver, "At the lake."

Gary appeared looking quite confused with Leaf by his side. Silver got out of his chair.

"That seems like a good place to talk," Silver said. He began walking off. Raven got to her feet quickly and followed Silver. The others streamed after them.

"What's going on?" Leaf asked as she was pushed along by Misty and May. Gary glanced at Paul and I for a few seconds, worry in his eyes.

"Paul?" Gary asked, "You don't look so good."

Paul slowly got to his feet. He looked at me before looking back at Gary.

"I'll be fine," he stated unemotionally before leading me in the direction of the others. Gary and I exchanged unspoken words as I was pulled past him. Gary followed on my other side, hands in pockets, frown on face.

"I'm sure it will be," Gary said. Paul glanced over at Gary. "Everything will be fine."

"Hn," Paul replied. I looked between the two before I shook Paul's hand from mine. Paul stopped and let go of me. I latched onto his arm instead, resting my cheek against his shoulder.

"I'm not worried," I said, "As long as I'm with Paul, I'll be fine."

Paul's expression lifted slightly as he looked across at Gary. Gary smiled at the two of us.

"Man," he said, "Can you get any soppier?"

~R~

"It's simple really," Silver stated, "And it's something I share with a few elites kids. I hate my father."

"What does that have to do with anything?" May asked in a bored sort of tone.

"Without going into too much detail," Silver said, "My father abandoned me when I was five so he could take over Team Rocket. I only came back under his radar five years ago when I was caught trying to stop Rocket."

"And you were sent here?" Misty asked. Silver nodded quickly.

"The moment I started here, I began making plans to bring down Rocket from the inside," Silver went on, "However, most people thought I was crazy and said no. Others did attempt to help me but… disappeared when they were found out."

"Disappeared?" Leaf squeaked. She looked worriedly over at Gary.

"Purely coincidental," Gary replied, "Things happen when you're doing raids."

"You've never been teamed up with Ketchum," Paul remarked.

"Yeah, anything can happen when you're teamed with Ash," Drew agreed with a nod. Ash glared at his two friends. Silver couldn't help but smirk.

"There has only been two people that have stayed with me over the past few years," Silver continued, "One of them is Lyra."

"Lyra?" Misty asked, "Lyra's in on this?"

Silver nodded: "She's the only one who's been able to be out on the field. She gathers all the information for us."

"Wait," Gary snapped, "I thought you got the information yourself!"

"No," Silver said, "Lyra does."

"But you call her 'idiot'," Ash said, "It makes no sense."

Silver rolled his eyes before continuing. May and Leaf were leaning in to listen to Silver. Misty was sat with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. I glanced round the circle to see the guys lounging around, apart from Paul who was sat close to me. Raven was laid on her front, holding her head up with her palms.

"The other person who has helped me through out the years is Raven," Silver continued. Everyone turned to look at Raven. She shrugged.

"I am an Elite," she told us, "I merely helped out whenever I could."

"But you didn't tell us?" Misty snapped.

"You never asked," Raven replied.

"Explains why you attached yourself to Celeste and Wyre," Drew said, "On your first day you said you put up with Celeste but you didn't like her."

Raven nodded.

"I'll not go into it now," Raven said. She looked at Silver, waiting for him to continue.

"When these four finished their first year, I realised they were half decent enough to help me," Silver explained, "So I asked them to help me. They became… 'friends' and were put inside the same flat so they could plan things without much difficulty."

"Do you really think that we would've become friends on our own?" Ash asked, "I mean, Mr Playboy, Mr Dense, Mr Grumpy and Mr Grasshead friends?"

"Again with the grasshead," Drew muttered.

"So all of this has been orchestrated?" May asked, "Even Lyra helping us?"

"Lyra decided to look after you four out of her own accord," Silver replied, "I have no idea why. She helped Leaf out one day, met all of you and decided she wanted to help."

"And why did they decide to become friends with us?" Misty asked, looking at Drew, Gary and Paul. Paul raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't decide to become friends with any of you," Paul replied, "I liked Dawn."

"Now I see why Dawn said he was the stalker of the group," May muttered loudly to Misty.

"We just followed Paul's lead," Gary replied, "He tended to stay around you, even if you didn't realise it, and we stayed around him. It was a matter of time before we became friends."

"A matter of time before you bugged us, you mean," May said. Drew glared across at her.

"You were saying, Silver," Ascot said before Drew could open his mouth.

"My primary goal is to bring down Rocket," Silver stated simply, "And that means us finding the Legendaries."

"So what Celeste told us was true?" Misty said.

"So far, three of them have manifested into humans," Silver said, "I know where one is but the other two are a mystery."

My eyes slid onto Paul. Paul looked just as confused as I was

"You know one?" I asked, "Which… One?"

"What do you mean, which one?" Silver snapped.

"Which Legendary?" Paul asked.

"This is the first I've heard of this," Gary muttered. Silver looked at Gary and shook his head.

"I can't tell you," Silver said, "If I do, then… Things may change."

I looked at Paul and he looked at me. I could see by the look in his eyes that he didn't tell Silver anything. Slowly, the two of us looked around the circle, finally settling on Raven. Raven shrugged. She hadn't told Silver anything either. Silver glared at me, making a shiver go up my spine.

"Either way," Silver said, closing his eyes slowly, "You can either help us or not."

I went to open my mouth but Paul cut me off.

"I'd rather not have you involved," Paul said, "You'd only put me off."

"Are you saying I can't help you because I'd cause too many problems?" I snapped, puffing my cheeks out. Paul nodded slowly.

"You mean too much to me," he said softly, "I don't want to be in the same position as the Radio Tower again."

"Yeah, you should have seen him," Ash said with a goofy smile on his face, "He totally went to town on the Ethan guy for putting you in trouble."

"Well I'm in," Misty said, "Just so I know when the hell to get out of here."

"Me too," May agreed with a nod.

"Are we having a picnic or something?" Leaf asked suddenly. Everyone looked at her. May, Misty and I sweat-dropped. Leaf giggled as the guys, apart from Paul, stared at her like she was some sort of alien. "I'm just kidding. I'll help out if I can. In whatever way possible."

"So… we're all in this?" Drew asked, "Well, apart from Dawn because Paul says no."

"That's what it seems like," Silver replied with a nod. Silver looked at Paul. "What did Wyre say to you?"

Paul closed his eyes and remained silent for a few seconds.

"I told you, already," Paul said, "He wanted me to help him and threatened to hurt Dawn if I said no."

"Say what?" Gary asked, jumping to his feet, "Wyre threatened Paul? Is that possible?"

"While you were on a date with Leaf," Drew said, smile crawling onto his face, "You missed a lot."

"Paul broke Wyre's wrist," Misty told Gary. The circle fell silent once again. Gary was still stood up, watching me carefully.

"We need someone to watch Wyre," Gary stated.

"I can do that," Raven volunteered.

"Or I can," Ascot said, "We can get close to him."

"So from here on out, we're working to save the world?" May asked.

"Together," Drew agreed. Everyone else nodded their heads, apart from me because I hadn't agreed to help them.

"Dawn," Silver said softly. I wouldn't associate that tone with Silver but it came out of his mouth so naturally. I looked at the prefect. His features had relaxed somewhat as he looked at me. "Please, keep yourself safe."

"Don't worry about me," I said enthusiastically, "If the only way I can help out is to stay out of trouble, I will do that!"

Paul smiled at me.

"Thank you," he muttered. I grabbed onto his arm, hugging it tightly. People around the circled laughed as Paul rolled his eyes. He smiled none-the-less. Silver, on the other hand, frowned at me.

"Stop that," Silver snapped.

"Stop what?" I asked.

"Stop making Paul softer than he already is," Silver told me as he got to his feet, "Arceus knows, he's the only guy I've got."

"Hey!" the other four boys yelled. The girls exchanged looks before they broke into smiles.

"He's right!" they chorused.

**So I'm back. Don't forget to review ;) I did forget to mention there is also a poll on my profile and on my blog for when my new fic should be updated. **

**My blog is rosieshiba-plotfairycomehome . blogspot . com so go and check it out! There will be my random ramblings, artwork (I daren't get deviantart, it would consume my life), sneak peaks and new stories on there. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**RSx**


	17. Of Unseen Signs and Friendship Ends

**Here is the next chapter of Rocket Academy :) I have taken a little bit of a break on writing this fic but I'm chapters ahead of all you *evil laughs* The outcome looks good :)**

**Thanks to: Foxgrl18, LuckyTigger, xXCanaryXx, ninetailsgirl194, AnimexLuver4Ever, splitheart1120, WoWgurl, LeafxGreenx3, Lynx of the Sand and RaveOn21now22 for reviewing! Also a very belated thank you for over 125 reviews! Here, have cyber cake on me! It's thanks to people like you that make me continue with fics. **

**So on with the next chapter after the usual disclaimer saying I don't own Pokémon or anything. There. On with the show!**

**Chapter Seventeen: Of Unseen Signs and Friendship Ends**

I flicked the water off my feet. Why was everything going hay wire at the minute. A few days ago, after school would mean the girls and I would be chatting about something that happened during the day or me spending time with Paul. Now I was sat alone by the side of the lake, dipping my feet into the clear depths. I let out a sigh.

"Is everything alright?"

I turned to see Lyra walking towards me. She stopped a distance back from the lake, looking worriedly at the water. She had her hands behind her back. She pushed herself forwards towards the lake and sat down beside me.

"You look quite sad," Lyra continued, "Is anything wrong?"

"Not really," I replied, "I just never guessed out of all of us, I was the one sat on the sidelines."

"Silver wouldn't have let you help anyway," Lyra told me.

"I know," I said, "And I understand why."

"I'm not allowed to do some stuff, you know," Lyra said with a smile, "I have three very strict rules."

"Really?" I asked.

"One: Never put myself in danger. Two: Never phone Silver to ask for help when I'm in danger. Three: No radio contact with Silver when I'm on a potentially dangerous mission," Lyra listed them off, counting on her fingers. I giggled. "You've got a much better one."

"Really?" I asked.

"Don't get involved. Ever. Not at all," Lyra stated, "I would prefer that one. However, Silver's just a walking talking robot. While Paul was able to recover some of his humanity, Silver was too far gone before he could receive help."

"Silver's not that bad," I defended the red head, "He's not exactly cute and cuddly and I'm sure I'd never want to get on his bad side, but he's a good person."

I let out a sigh.

"He's like Paul," I went on, "He cares deep inside but he wants to protect what is close to his heart."

"I guess so," Lyra agreed. Silence fell on us.

"Why did you take us under your wing?" I asked.

"I don't know," Lyra replied, "You seemed cute and fun. I just wanted to help."

"You really are kind, Lyra-chan," I said. Lyra smiled at me.

"Are you and Paul really that serious?" Lyra asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Have you two kissed properly yet?" Lyra asked. I felt heat rise in my cheeks. I nodded slowly. "Have you told him you love him?"

I nodded once more but refused to look at Lyra.

"You two made out?"

"Not really," I replied, "Paul's not really like that."

"You two slept together?"

Lyra's tone was so blunt I shot her a glare. She laughed heartily.

"Paul really is rubbing off on you," Lyra commented.

"It's weird," I said, "I would have thought Paul would have asked me by now but he hasn't. I over heard Ursula talking about it. She said we'd not… done it and said it was because Paul doesn't really love me."

"Do you believe that?" Lyra asked.

"I get the feeling," I replied, "That Paul wants to wait a while."

"How so?"

"It's something Raven said," I explained, "She read my fortune once and said that this time next year I'd be married and be a mother."

"Raven?" Lyra asked. Lyra thought for a second or two before she looked out over the lake. "Do you ever get the feeling that you've known someone for years even when you've never really talked? You feel like you've been friends with a person for a millennia even after the only face to face conversation you've had was about how weird your hat was?"

"Raven's like that," I said.

"I guess," Lyra said, "But I'm still not sure about her."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Paul walking towards us. He glanced at Lyra before looking at me. I stood up and dusted my skirt off. Lyra jumped to her feet and looked between us.

"Hey, Paul," Lyra said with a small wave, "How are you today?"

Paul looked more tired than he had done before. He ran his hand through his hair before letting out a sigh. I walked over to him, hooking a hand on his elbow. He glanced at me, offering me a blank look that told me he was fine. Lyra walked closer to us, smiling brightly.

"That bad, huh?" Lyra asked, "Well, I should go and see if Silver needs anything. No doubt he wants me to gather information for him."

"Please be careful," I told her. Lyra nodded. She looked at Paul.

"You shouldn't worry about her," she told him. She prodded his shoulder sharply. "You should include her, not push her away. That's how people get hurt you know."

"I'll bear that in mind," Paul replied with a nod, "Thank you for sitting with her a while."

"It's alright," Lyra said with a shrug. She put her hands behind her back once more and began to walk off. She stopped a few feet away and turned back to us. "You should relax more."

She walked off, leaving Paul and I standing watching her. I looked back at Paul. I reached up to stroke his cheek.

"You look awful," I told him. Paul let out a sigh. He walked towards the lake. He stood by the shoreline. I walked towards him.

"I'm scared," he stated simply. I blinked a few times as I looked at his back. He turned round to look at me. His brows were furrowed. I nodded slowly. The wind picked up slightly, blowing our hair in the breeze. The water rippled. Once the wind died down, Paul looked back across the water. I stood by his side, sliding my hand into his. The silence was eerie. It dragged on for a few minutes as the wind blew once more. It whipped through my hair.

"Do you think Wyre will hurt me?" I asked. Paul nodded. I looked down at the grass.

"Hey!" I heard Raven yell. We turned to see Raven and Gary walking towards us. This was odd. Why was Gary walking with Raven? Paul seemed confused too.

"What are you doing here?" Paul asked with a sharp tone.

"I want to know what Wyre said to you," Gary snapped, "And I won't take no for an answer."

"Fine," Paul replied, "Get lost is my answer."

Raven pulled out a Pokéball, enlarged it and released a Gengar.

"You don't have a choice," Raven said. Paul took a step backwards, but realised there was the lake behind him. He looked at me. I squeezed his hand. He hung his head and let out a sigh in defeat.

"Fine," he barked.

"Purple," Raven said to her Gengar, "Please let us see what Paul saw when he was talking to Wyre yesterday."

"Gen," the purple ghost said. Gengar's eye's glowed red. It felt like someone had harshly braked in a car. I bumped into Paul. I looked around to see we were in Mahogany Town just past the ice cream parlour. Gary and Raven were stood close to us. I looked round to see there were two Paul's. There was the Paul who was wearing his school uniform and who I was hanging onto, then there was another Paul, wearing casual clothes talking to Wyre.

Wyre and Paul were stood face to face.

"What do you want," Paul snapped to Wyre.

"Blunt as usual, I see," Wyre said, "I want to offer you a once in a life time deal."

Paul remained silent. Wyre let out a small sigh before he continued.

"We're currently working on catching the Legendaries," Wyre went on, "And you could help us greatly."

"Why should I help you?" Paul asked.

"I seem to think you know something," Wyre stated, "You seem interested in the Legendaries. I've seen the type of books you read. How you prefer history to any other subject, how you train your Pokémon to be as strong as they possibly can. There's only one thing you would do with all that, Paul. You want the Legendaries for yourself."

"Really?" Paul asked. He smirked and went to walk away.

"You'd be perfect to help us," Wyre went on, "Your record is fantastic. You could be an elite in a week after graduation if you help me."

"Why would I want to be an elite?" Paul asked, disgust in his tone, "I prefer doing what I do now."

"Oh I see," Wyre said, "You're too big for bribery are you?"

"I'm not interested," Paul stated, "Now, I'm going back to my friends."

"Friends?" Wyre asked, "More like… Girlfriend."

Paul paused, turning his head towards Wyre. Wyre was smirking to himself like he suddenly figured something out.

"What about her?" Paul asked, keeping all of the emotion out of his voice. The present Paul, the one in the uniform beside me, squeezed my hand tightly. I glanced up at him to see he was scowling at Wyre.

"Dawn Hikari," Wyre stated, "Daughter of Johanna and Gareth Hikari, the man who tried to assassinate Giovanni in his first trip to Sinnoh. She's such a beautiful girl. Innocent, happy and sweet. No wonder you love her. She melts your cold heart. What would happen to you if she was to… have an accident?"

"She's accident prone," Paul replied, "I'm used to her getting hurt."

Wyre chuckled: "I suppose so."

Paul began to walk away, not really bothered by what Wyre was saying.

"But what if someone was to hurt her?" Wyre asked. His tone had changed dramatically. It was dark, hollow and sadistic. I glanced over at Raven as she shivered. Past Paul stopped and turned back to look at Wyre. Wyre was smirking in a way that made past Paul look around in confusion. "If someone was to sneak into her room while she was sleeping, when she was at her most vulnerable and slice her neck, what would you do then?"

I clutched Paul tighter. He put an arm round me.

"But then again," Wyre continued, "If they were in her room… Why kill her straight away?"

Past Paul took a few steps towards Wyre, grabbing the elite's collar. Wyre smirked at Paul's reaction.

"You leave her out of this," Paul spat, "I will never help you so leave us alone."

Paul threw Wyre away from him and stormed off. Wyre smirked after Paul, straightening out his collar.

"Interesting," Wyre mumbled before hurrying after Paul. The Paul next to me tensed up slightly as Wyre walked past us.

It felt like the brakes had been applied once more and we were suddenly back at the lake. Gengar looked up at Raven before floating up and disappearing. Raven didn't seem to notice that her Pokémon had disappeared. She was still shivering. Gary looked a little pale as well.

"Well…" Gary said with a rub of his head, "I can see why you're so worried."

I looked up at Paul. He avoided eye contact with everyone for a few moments until Raven collapsed onto her knees. She was hyperventilating. Paul released me and the three of us crowded round her.

"What's wrong with her?" Gary asked me. I shrugged. Tears spilled from Raven's eyes. She looked up at us, trying so hard to smile.

"Gengar… put his thoughts… in my head…" she stuttered, "I saw… everything… he was thinking."

"That bad, huh?" Gary asked. He helped Raven to his feet. I put a comforting arm round her, smiling at her reassuringly.

"He was thinking about what he was going to do to the Legendaries…" Raven trailed off. She burst into tears, hugging me tightly. I tried to calm her down but it wasn't helping one bit. I looked at Paul and Gary who were stood watching us, unsure of what to do. Gary had a hand on his hip. He was thinking about something.

"We need to find them quickly," Gary muttered. Paul nodded. "I'll start straight away."

"I'll take these two home," Paul said. Gary nodded before sprinting off towards the school. Paul looked at Raven and me. "What is he planning?"

"Nothing good," Raven hiccupped, "I'm scared. I really am scared."

"It's going to be alright," I told Raven. I glanced at Paul to prompt him to say something but I didn't get anything from him.

"We could always kill him," Paul suggested, "The he can't do anything."

Raven stopped crying so that she could stare at Paul. Paul had his hands in his pockets, staring at us both. Raven's eyes were wide, her mouth open. I think I had the same expression on my face as I looked at Paul. Disbelief washed over me.

"We can't kill him," Raven said, "We'd be no better than him."

"Then he can't be that bad can he?" Paul asked. I smiled at Paul, nodding slowly like I agreed with him. Raven's lower lip trembled. "He may be a sadistic person but I doubt he's that much trouble."

"You shouldn't underestimate him," Raven scolded Paul. Paul shrugged.

"I never underestimate anyone," Paul told her, "Especially my enemies."

I pulled away from Raven. Paul walked up to us, placing a comforting hand on Raven's shoulder. She looked at the floor. Paul looked at me. I smiled at him before I took his hand. The three of us walked back to the dorms in silence. What had just happened buzzed in our heads. No doubt the others were worried.

We walked into the apartment to find the entire place was in uproar. Everything was spilled over the floor. Plates were smashed on the table. Papers were scattered around the place. A few balloons were floating on the ceiling. Paul looked around before scouting the area. I walked slowly towards my room and opened the door. I was hit by a cold blast of air. I yelled.

"Dawn?" Raven and Paul asked. I jumped backwards out of the cold.

"It's freezing in there!" I yelled. Paul rushed into the room. He stumbled out a few seconds later, rubbing his hands together.

"Five fans were on," he told me, "Is there any reason for that?"

There was a shriek for the other bedroom.

"You did it again!" May's voice bellowed.

"I didn't mean to!" Misty snapped in reply.

"Stop doing that!"

"I can't help it!"

Raven edged towards the room, before quickly opening the door. Paul and I walked over to see what was inside. Misty and May were sat on the floor, holding something in their hands. May had a screw driver, Misty had a manual. They seemed to but putting something together.

"What are you… doing?" Raven asked. The two girls looked up at her.

"My fan broke," May said, "So I'm trying to fix it."

"So why is the apartment trashed?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"Well…" May said.

"May tried to fix the fan herself in the kitchen," Misty explained, "But she forgot to put the rotating part on the hook in its cage. So she spent five minutes chasing it round the room."

"It was trying to kill me!" May yelled. Paul shook his head before walking up to the jumble of parts on the floor. He took the manual from Misty and the screwdriver from May. He read over a page before throwing it behind him.

"Drew can fix this," Paul stated as he left the room.

"So why were you two yelling at each other?" Raven asked.

"Well," May snapped, "She keeps accidentally giving me electric shocks."

"By accident!" Misty yelled.

"You were messing with those balloons all afternoon!" May shouted.

"Can someone go let Drew in?" Paul asked calmly.

"I'll go," Misty said as she shot to her feet, "If May can trust me not to shock him."

"He'll be fine," Paul told Misty, "He's part plant."

She smirked as she walked past Paul.

"Why do you need so many fans?" I asked, "I was almost scared to death when I stepped into the room."

"Well, you weren't in, were you?" May snapped.

"Are you saying I'm never in?" I asked, raising my voice.

"You're not," May told me, scowling at me, "You're either out with Paul or at school. The only time you're here is when you sleep."

"That's not true," I argued back, "I'm in here more than that!"

"Why don't you just move in with Paul?" May suggested, "You seem to be attached all the time. Arceus knows, you may get withdrawal symptoms."

"May," Raven said, "That's a little harsh."

"Says you, Miss Know It All," May snapped, "You're an absolute drama queen, you know that right? Dumping Ascot for no reason then dating him again because he was there. You're just like Celeste."

Raven's bottom lip quivered before she stamped her foot.

"I'm out of here!" she yelled. She stormed towards the door. I rushed to stop her but she shook me away. "I don't have to take this from anyone."

"Raven, please," I pleaded. Raven shot me a glare before she opened the door and pushed past Drew and Misty. The two of them looked slightly confused.

"What's wrong?" Drew asked.

"Let me guess," Misty said, "May?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"It's May," Misty replied, "If you want hot-headed, jealous and snappy, just get May. She's got plenty and more for everyone!"

"Why do I feel like this is a very bad idea?" Drew asked as Misty walked back into her room. The two girls began arguing once more. Paul walked over to us, glancing over his shoulder as the volume shot up. "Er… Should we go?"

"We need them to calm down," Paul stated. Drew looked terrified.

"I'm not sure I want to go in there with an angry May and an angry Misty," Drew said. I nodded in agreement.

"I don't know how to get them to calm down," I admitted, "I've never seen them like this before."

"Tread with caution?" Drew asked Paul. Paul nodded. Slowly the three of us walked towards the door. Drew and I tiptoed to the door while Paul walked silently behind us, rolling his eyes. We stood in the doorway to see that May was chasing Misty round the room with the pole for the fan. Misty was chasing May with her mallet. What was going on here?

"As much as I would love to see this charade of Looney Tunes to continue," Paul said, calmly, "Will you two stop behaving like morons for one minute?"

"Looney Tunes?" Drew asked, smirking, "Are you saying that Misty's Bugs Bunneary and May is Daffy Psyduck?"

This exchange was totally ignored by the girls. They suddenly stopped running and attempted to beat each other up with what they had in their hands.

"That's not good," Paul murmured before he and Drew pulled the girls away from each other. Paul easily pulled May back while Drew did the same to Misty.

"Come and get me!" May yelled at Misty.

"You're such a child!" Misty replied loudly.

"Both of you calm down," Drew snapped. They began to flail in the boys' arms. Drew was forced to pull Misty backwards as she clawed her way to May. Paul didn't have too much of a problem restraining May. I felt helpless stood in the middle of them.

"Please calm down," I reasoned.

"GO AWAY!" they both roared at me. Paul lost his temper. He threw May on the floor with a thump. May fell silent like Misty did at the action. May looked up at Paul in shock. Paul glared down at her.

"Both of you are annoying me now," he said, "I haven't slept in two days. My girlfriend may get attacked by Wyre at any moment, I'm not sure. Not to mention I'm doing double time trying to find out as much as I can about the legendaries so I can help Silver. So please tell why the hell you two are fighting."

Drew slowly let go of Misty as she seemed to be paralysed on the spot. I looked worriedly at Paul. May slowly got to her feet and dusted herself off. She glared at Paul for a second.

SLAP

Paul fell backwards onto the hard wooden floor with a thump. He fell back with so much force he slid back a bit. He banged his head on the end of the bed. After a few seconds he steadied himself and raised his hand to his cheek. I rushed to his side. Drew ran over to him too. Paul's cheek was bleeding where May had dug her nails into his skin when she slapped him.

"Ow," Paul muttered.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" May barked, "You come in here and start to threaten me? You throw me on the floor and then yell at me? Go back to your own room!"

"He was only trying to help," Drew snapped, straightening up, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and held it up to Paul's cheek. He seemed dazed by the strike.

"I'm alright," he said to me.

"What's wrong with me?" May roared, "I'm surrounded by idiots, that's what's wrong! You've got little miss sunshine there who's all happy and lovey with her boyfriend, the Prune Head. Then there's little miss harpy who refuses to help me do something simple. And finally there's little miss clueless who isn't here but can't stop fawning over the school's biggest playboy when she knows she's just a toy to him."

"May?"

Everyone turned to see Leaf and Ash stood in the doorway, looking confused at what was going on. Ash yelped when he saw Paul on the floor. Leaf's eyes flew to Paul and she soon was crouched down by his side.

"What's going on?" Ash asked Drew.

"Nothing that concerns you, airhead," May snapped.

"Hey! Don't talk to him that way!" Misty yelled.

"Why? It's not like you care about him anyway," May replied.

"Stop it!" I yelled, my voice coming from somewhere. I stood up, scowling at May and Misty. "I don't have a clue what's gotten into you two but it stops now!"

"Dawn," Drew said but I silenced him by raising my hand.

"Please tell us what's wrong," I said. May and Misty rounded on me slightly but I stood my ground.

"You're such a weak and pathetic little brat, you know that right?" May stated, "Maybe it's time you kept your nose out of where it doesn't belong."

"Go and spend time with your precious boyfriend," Misty added, "It's not like you care about anything else."

"Wait," Leaf said, rushing in to defend me, "What's going on? I don't understand."

"Of course you don't," May snarled, "You barely have one thought a day."

Leaf's lower lip trembled. I could see tears forming in her eyes. She hated it when ever anyone argued. She let out a cry before she tore from the room.

"Leaf!" I yelled. I heard the front door slam a few seconds later. I scowled at May and Misty for a few seconds before I felt anger rise up in my body. They were really making me mad now. I could feel the anger bubbling in my stomach. Slowly it coursed through my veins until I could feel it all over my body. Then I exploded.

"THAT'S IT!" I yelled, "I'm not coming back here until you two sort yourselves out."

"Dawn?" Drew asked as I walked over to Paul. I helped him to his feet. I slowly turned to my two friends.

"Nobody ever makes Leaf cry," I spat at them, "I'll come back later to get some stuff and then it's over."

I led Paul out of the room. Ash and Drew gave Misty and May a glance over before they followed us. May stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her. Misty slammed hers too. I looked round the apartment one final time before the four of us left.

What had just happened?

**Dun dun duuuunnnn! On a totally different note, I found some deleted chapters from Had To Be You so I'm going to post them on my blog later. Go and have a look!**

**Please review me with your thoughts :) I like how some people know what I'm going to do before I actually get round to writing it. Hehe. Til Wednesday!**

**P.S. there's a poll on my profile for Harmony of White Roses. Please vote and read! Thanks!**

**RSx**


	18. Of Hospital Trips and New Rooms

**Hehe… I forgot what day it was… Sorry for GMT readers. This is a little late. I blame this on Techno and also Ninjas that have moved into my brain and are making me write another new fic… Stupid Ninjas…**

**Anyway, thanks to WoWgurl, foxgrl18, splitheart1120, ninetailsgirl94, .xX, AnimexLuver4Ever, Lynx of the Sand, Rawrazor, xXCanaryXx, RaveOn21now22 and LuckyTigger for reviewing. Hehe. **

**Just a note raised by RaveOn21now22, Raven could read Wyre's mind in the flashback because she has awesome powers *nods* Since there was a ghost type and someone who can read minds, they could tune into the brain waves even in a flashback *nods*… Yeah… *coughs* RaveOn21now22 got me thinking again… T_T**

**Chapter Eighteen: Of Hospital Trips and New Rooms**

Paul grimaced as Nurse Joy shone a bright light in his eyes. The pink haired nurse shook her head with a worried look on her face.

"Is he alright?" Drew asked her. She nodded slowly.

"He should be fine," she replied, "He has a slight concussion but that's not what I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?" Drew asked. Paul looked between the two like he didn't have a clue what was going on. I stroked his hand gently. At least he understood that.

"When was the last time you ate?" Nurse Joy asked Paul, "Or slept?"

"I'm not sure," Paul replied, "I can't remember."

"Well that can't be good," Drew muttered, "Paul never forgets stuff like that."

"It's the concussion," Nurse Joy said. She checked Paul's head where he had hit it on the bed. She let out a sigh. "Do you feel dizzy?"

"No."

"Have a headache?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel confused and drowsy?"

"Slightly."

"It's fine," Nurse Joy said, "This is normal. Do you remember how you got your injury?"

Paul thought for a few seconds before he shook his head gently. He looked around at us, waiting for one of us to tell him. Nurse Joy shuffled towards her desk, leaving the three of us waiting.

"You look pretty out of it, Paul," Drew commented. Paul rubbed his head where he had banged it. I looked sympathetically at him. I brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Arceus, I hope that's Dawn," Paul said.

"Can't you see who it is?" Drew asked.

"Everything's blurry," Paul replied, "I can't focus on anything."

"It's alright," I said. Paul looked at me. His gaze seemed unfocused. He looked away from me, holding his head in pain. Nurse Joy returned with a bottle of pills. She handed Paul a few and told him to take them. He did so slowly. I don't really think he knew where his mouth was.

"It's for the headaches," Nurse Joy told us, "It should help."

"Thanks," Paul mumbled. He slowly climbed off of the bed.

"He can go to sleep if he wants," Nurse Joy said, "But wake him up every couple of hours. Come get me if he starts showing other symptoms."

"OK," Drew and I said before we led Paul back towards the dorms.

"This is so weird," Drew commented as we walked.

"What is?" I asked.

"Seeing Paul like this," Drew replied, "It's like looking after a fourteen year old Ash."

"Don't compare me to Ketchum," Paul snapped.

"Can't you remember anything?" I asked. Paul shook his head.

"I remember going into the apartment seeing it was a mess, then calling Drew, then nothing," Paul explained. Drew and I nodded slowly.

"So you missed the pink Nidorino then?" Drew asked. Paul punched Drew's arm making the green haired boy yelp.

"I've got a concussion," Paul snapped, "Not clinical stupidity."

"We need to find Leaf," I said suddenly.

"Ash did go to find her," Drew replied, "I wonder if he found her."

"Why? Where did Leaf go?" Paul asked. Drew let out a sigh.

"I'll let you in the building, then you should look after him," Drew told me. I nodded. Paul rolled his eyes. He grimaced.

"I shouldn't do that," he said as he stumbled into me, "The whole world spins when I do that."

I giggled at him.

Drew left us at the door of the boys' zone before he went to find Ash. Paul and I walked up to the guys' room. Gary was sat on the sofa, idly flicking through a book. He glanced up as Paul and I walked into the room.

"Hey," Gary greeted, "I was wondering where everyone was."

Paul walked over to the sofa and flumped down, grimacing at the impact. Gary glanced at him weirdly as he put a hand to his head. I walked up to Paul, checking to make sure he was OK. He waved me off, signalling he was just fine. I let out a sigh.

"I'll get you a drink," I said. I walked over to the kitchen and got Paul a glass of water.

"What's wrong with him?" Gary asked as he looked over Paul.

"Get off me," Paul snapped. He lost balance and fell off the edge of the sofa. I let out a sigh as I walked back to the two guys. Gary was trying to help Paul up but Paul wasn't having any of it.

"He's got a concussion," I told Gary.

"How?" Gary asked. A sly smile worked its way onto his face. I slapped Gary on the back of the head. Paul smirked at him. "Well… What else am I supposed to think?"

"May pushed him into the bed," I sighed, "She and Misty were fighting."

"Fighting?" Gary asked, raising an eyebrow. Gary looked at the claw marks on Paul's face. "Fighting Paul?"

"Each other," I replied, "When Paul and Drew got in the middle of it, Paul got clawed."

"Ouch," Gary mumbled.

"Then he fell backwards and hit his head on the bed," I continued.

"OK," Paul said, "I feel bad enough having a stupid concussion. Now I know how I got it, I feel ten times worse."

"You got May-ed," Gary laughed. Paul looked at me.

"So how does Leaf come into it?" Paul asked. Gary shut up instantly.

"Leaf?" he asked.

"May and Misty made her cry," I replied, "I'm going to phone Raven."

I walked into Paul's bedroom and looked around.

"_Raven_," I thought, "_I need your help a moment_."

"_What's wrong_?" Raven asked. She sounded miffed even in my head. I suppressed a giggle as I thought how weird it was.

"_May and Misty upset Leaf_," I stated, "_I wondered if she was with you._"

"_She's not,_" Raven said, now sounding alarmed, "_I can go and look for her._"

"_Drew and Ash are already on it_," I told her, "_But I don't know if they've found her yet_."

"_We have a few spare beds here_," Raven told me, "_You and Leaf can stay here if you need to_."

"_Thanks_," I said, "_I'll have to find Leaf first and then see if Paul's alright_."

"_What happened to Paul_!" Raven yelled. I jumped. "_May attacked him? Wow that's not good at all. That girl is seriously heading for a showdown_."

I let out a sigh.

"_Just keep out a thought for Leaf_," I said, "_Paul's fine. I'm more worried about Leaf_."

"_OK, I'll have a look for her_," Raven said before going silent. I walked out of the bedroom and looked to see where Paul and Gary were.

"Get off me!" Paul was yelling. I peered round to see that Gary had Paul pinned down on the floor. Gary was grinning victoriously.

"Tell me what happened," Gary was saying.

"I told you, I can't remember," Paul snapped back in reply. I cleared my throat. Gary looked up at me.

"Are you attacking my boyfriend while he has a concussion?" I asked. Gary laughed sheepishly before climbed off Paul. Paul got to his feet.

"I'm going to have a lay down," Paul mumbled before walking towards his room. I smiled after him but he ignored me. Once the bedroom door was shut I turned to Gary.

"Gary," I said. The brunette boy looked up at me, confused at the tone of voice I used. "Tell me this is a plan of yours. Tell me that you're planning for Misty and May for pretend to argue so that Raven would take me in."

"They seemed a little off earlier," Gary replied, "But we wouldn't plan anything like that. We're not that petty. If we wanted you to move in with Raven then we would have arranged it, not done this."

"I suppose," I agreed. I sat down on the sofa beside Gary, putting my head in my hands. I ran through everything in my head. "I've never seen May or Misty like that before. It's like they had become monsters or something."

"Dawn," Gary said, turning slowly to me, "Is it possible that… May and Misty aren't telling you something?"

"Everyone has their secrets," I replied with a shrug, "You just have to wait until they're ready to tell you them."

The door opened. Ash and Drew poured into the room, dragging Leaf behind them. Leaf was still crying. Gary got to his feet quickly and rushed over to her. She jumped into his arms, burying her face into his chest. Gary began to comfort her. Drew and Ash walked round the couple. They walked to me.

"Where's Paul?" Drew asked. I nodded towards the bedroom.

"He's having a rest," I told them. Ash looked concerned.

"Things are very strange," Ash said, "Since when do May and Misty act that way."

"Hey, I always said, May was a monster," Drew commented, "And you didn't listen."

"Not funny, Drew," Ash mumbled. Drew gave Ash a friendly punch on the arm.

"I'm sure it'll all blow over," Drew said, "Just you wait, tomorrow it will be like nothing happened."

~R~

When Drew was wrong, he was very, very, very wrong. May and Misty were in worse moods than the day before. We had to shield Leaf from them at one point when she asked what was wrong. However, it wasn't the guys who came to our rescue, it was Celeste. She shot the girls a dark look and told them to go away.

"What is wrong with them?" Celeste asked. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the two as they walked off in opposite directions. Raven stood on Celeste's other side, looking annoyed.

"I have no idea," I replied. Celeste looked round to find that Drew and Paul were missing.

"Where's Paul and Grasshead?" she asked.

"Paul has a concussion," Ash stated, "Drew's making sure he's alright."

"What!" Celeste snapped, "Paul's got a concussion? From where?"

The entire class fell silent and turned to face us. The teacher looked up as well, confused yet interested. I blinked a few times, my brain going into over time trying to think of a good excuse.

"Well…" Gary said.

"Err…" Ash garbled. Leaf stayed silent, playing with her fingers as she thought about this. Raven looked up at the ceiling.

"It's all really funny," I said suddenly, "Paul and I were talking in the apartment then Drew fell over and knocked Paul into the table."

"Ohhh," the classed chorused.

"That's why Drew's staying with him," Gary went on, catching onto the lie, "He feels terrible."

"Yeah," Ash agreed, "Especially since he was rushing around at the time."

"He needed some new conditioner," Leaf added. There was a pause before Celeste shrugged.

"That's Drew," she said. The class nodded in agreement before going back to their usual conversations. Raven was staring at us like the four of us were aliens. Her expression changed when Celeste looked at her.

"So what's with the other two?" Celeste asked.

"Er…" Leaf and I said, "Well, it's like this…"

"Like what?" Celeste asked, raising an eyebrow at us. Leaf and I looked at each other before hanging our heads. We didn't have an excuse for them. Leaf looked up and started waving her arms around.

"They caught a very mean bug!" she yelled, "Now they're being mean to everyone!"

"A mean… bug?" Celeste asked. She let out a sigh. "So it's like that is it?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"They're just gone mean over night?" Celeste asked. Both Leaf and I nodded before letting out a sigh. "Don't mind them. You can stay with Raven and I until they get back to normal."

"Oh no," Leaf said, "We don't want to impose."

"It's nice of you to offer," I said with a bow. Celeste smirked before she walked off. I glanced at Raven to see she was still confused.

"OK," she said, "That was inspired."

"What was?" Leaf asked.

"That lie," Raven replied, "Was it pre-planned or something because you even had me convinced."

Gary and I let out a long sigh while Leaf giggled. Ash looked slightly proud and puffed out his chest. Today was going to be a very long day.

~R~ 

"So this is where you two will sleep," Celeste said, pointing to a large room with two single beds in it, "I hope it's big enough for you two. I couldn't get two doubles in the time I had so I apologise for that."

Leaf and I gaped round at the room. I was pretty sure this room was bigger than our apartment. It was beautiful. The walls were a baby blue colour with white semi-circles painted near the ceiling. The furniture was all white wood with pink and blue accessories. There was a table with two chairs, a sofa and armchair, four wardrobes, two dressing tables, two four poster single beds with white lace curtains round them. Leaf and I looked at Celeste.

"This is brilliant," I told Celeste. Celeste looked confused.

"Really?" she asked, blinking a few times, "I thought it was a little small."

"Wowee," Leaf said, bounding into the room, twirling round a few times, "I love it here!"

"Make yourselves at home," Celeste said with a shrug, "Usually there's just Raven and me here. It will be nice having other people round too."

"Thank you once again," I said, bowing my head. Celeste smiled and walked off, leaving us to get settled. I looked at Leaf. She was searching the room with a look of joy on her face. I laughed as I picked up my suitcase and dragged it towards on of the beds.

"This is so nice," Leaf said as she walked towards a large window. I walked to her and looked out. We were on the top floor of the block. We could see for miles around. From here I could even see the lake.

"Wow," I commented.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Raven asked. She was stood by the door holding a tray. She placed the tray on the table and skipped over to us. "Do you like the room?"

"It's gorgeous," Leaf and I said. Raven smiled.

I heard my Pokégear go off. I walked back to my bag and picked it out. The caller ID said it was Gary. I shrugged and answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Dawn, it's Gary," Gary replied, "We, er… We're at the nurse's station. You should come real quick."

"What's happened?" I asked. Raven and Leaf walked over to me to see what was going on. They looked confused.

"Er… Just get down here," Gary mumbled. I slipped my Pokégear into my pocket.

"The guys are at the nurse's station," I told them, "They told me to go as soon as I can."

"Do you want us to go too?" Leaf asked. I shook my head and offered them a smile.

"I'll be fine on my own," I replied, "You go back to getting settled in."

I walked through the large apartment to the front door. Celeste looked up at me.

"Are you going to see Paul?" Celeste asked.

"The guys need my help with something," I replied, "I shouldn't be too long."

"OK," she said, "I hope he's alright."

I do too, I thought, but I managed to smile at her as I left the apartment. I ran the rest of the way to school, hoping that Paul hadn't got any worse. He seemed fine earlier that morning when I visited him. How could he have gotten worse? I knew that concussions could get serious but Paul seemed to be OK. I hoped he was OK.

I walked into the nurse's station to find Gary and Paul sat waiting on a chair. I looked confused. Paul was messing with his sleeve which seemed to have some sort of goo on it. Gary had the same goo in his hair and shoulders. Neither of them looked impressed. They looked at me, scowling.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"What's going on?" Gary asked, jumping to his feet, "It's your friends. That's what's going on you hear me! Those stupid, hormonal harpies decided to do this to us!"

"Calm down," Paul said.

"You weren't attacked so you don't care!" Gary yelled. I walked over to Gary and looked at the goo which was covering him. I looked confused.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Some kind of polymer," Paul stated, "Hard setting polymer."

"So who's hurt?" I asked.

"Well… No body's hurt so to speak," Gary replied, "It's just that…"

"Just that?" I asked, glaring at Gary.

"Ash and Drew are stuck together," Paul stated. I glanced at Paul, then at Gary.

"Ash and Drew… are stuck together?" I repeated. Gary nodded, Paul smirked. I began laughing so hard I was soon clutching my side in pain.

"Told you she would find it amusing," Paul told Gary. Gary did a funny little dance on the spot in annoyance. I sat down next to Paul.

"How are you?" I asked.

"I'm fine," Paul replied. I let out a sigh of relief.

"When Gary phoned I thought you'd taken a turn for the worse," I admitted sheepishly. Paul smirked at me.

"I don't need that much looking after," Paul told me, "Besides, if I did take a turn for the worse I swear Gary would be singing 'hurray the wicked witch is dead'."

"Haha," Gary commented. I poked Paul hard in the ribs for the sarcastic remark. He grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers with mine.

"But I appreciate the worry," Paul added.

Nurse Joy walked out from behind a curtain, looking completely tired and annoyed. She glared at the three of us.

"How did these two get stuck together?" she snapped. I looked at Paul and Gary since I didn't have a clue. Nurse Joy stamped her feet. "This is the third time you've been in here and I haven't got a proper answer from you. So tell me. What happened?"

I had never seen Nurse Joy look so mad. Paul leant forwards in a bid to tell her what happened.

"I'm not quite sure," Paul started, "About why it happened but I heard Ketchum and Hayden yelling at Bandana and Carrot Top about something so I went to investigate. It turns out they were fighting in the entrance hall not the apartment. When I got down there the girls were messing with something. I think they were helping the guys carry it, but they suddenly flipped and tipped the vat of whatever it was over them."

"OK," Nurse Joy said, "So it was an accident?"

"Sort of," Paul replied. Gary glanced at Paul nervously. Nurse Joy eyed him weirdly.

"What do mean, sort of?" she asked.

"Well, Bandana and Carrot Top have been overly insane the last few days," Paul replied, "I don't know what's eating them but it can't be good for them."

"Could they be sick? Or maybe stressed?" Nurse Joy wondered out loud. She turned to Paul once again. "And that's how you got your concussion too I suspect?"

"So they tell me," Paul replied, "My own fault though."

"Fine," Nurse Joy sighed, "I'll call them tomorrow and see if I can help with anything."

She turned and left to go and check on Ash and Drew. Gary rounded on Paul.

"Why did you tell her?" Gary hissed, "What if they get expelled or worse?"

"They won't," Paul said.

"Paul did say it seemed like something was wrong with them," I agreed, "Maybe Nurse Joy can sort it out."

"I guess so," Gary said before letting out a long sigh. Nurse Joy popped her head round the curtains.

"It's no use," she said, "That polymer's set like stone."

"That can't be good," Gary commented. Paul looked like he was thinking about something.

"Do you have an Abra, Nurse Joy?" he asked. Nurse Joy shook her head but she began smiling like crazy.

"I can get one though," she said, "Great idea."

"Aw…" Gary mumbled, "I wanted to dowse them with chemicals…"

"There, there," I comforted him with a pat on the back. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Gary," Paul said, "How about a photo for the year book."

There was an evil glint in Gary's eyes before he walked behind the curtain. I glared at Paul.

"What?" he asked.

"You're mean," I told him. He moved his hand from mine and hooked his arm round me instead. We both smirked as we heard Drew and Ash's voices yell at Gary.

Yes, my boyfriend was evil, perhaps the best evil genius in the world. It spooked me slightly before I realised, he's Paul, it's what he does. As long as we were on the same sides I had nothing to worry about. It was everyone else that should be running for the hills, not me.

**Hehe, Paul with a concussion. Inspired by someone I knew who did actually have a concussion a few weeks ago. So thank her for Paul's injury.**

**I will not forget the next update. Promise. The ninja's should've moved out by then. Hopefully… Or settled down. Don't forget to review!**

**RSx**


	19. Of Spring Dances and Elites

**Happy Easter to everyone! Wooo! Chocolate!**

**Thanks to: xXCanaryXx, Foxgrl18, LeafxGreenx3, AnimeLuver4Ever, Ninetailsgirl94, dattebayo4321, splitheart1120, What Is Left Unsaid, xRissychanx, Dark Angel, Rawrazor, zflame393, AnimefangirlRosiclau300 and Lynx of the Sand for reviewing! And thanks to everyone who has ever reviewed since you've passed the 150 review mark! XD That's so awesome!**

**So now, on with the show and I don't own Pokémon.**

**Chapter Nineteen: Of Spring Dances and Elites**

Celeste twirled round in a long dark pink dress. She looked at herself in the mirror before turning to look at Raven, Leaf and me.

"Well?" she asked.

"Looks awesome!" Leaf yelled, giving her the thumbs up.

"It suits you," I agreed. Raven nodded. Celeste turned back to the mirror, adjusting the puffy sleeves. It was an elegant dress, simple in design. It hugged Celeste's contours perfectly before flaring out slightly on the hips. It did have puffy sleeves yet it seemed to go with the rest of the dress. Celeste twirled once more.

"Well, I like it," she decided, "I'll take it."

"So, what are you wearing to the dance, Leaf?" Raven asked as Celeste ducked back into the changing rooms to get changed. Leaf jumped to her feet.

"I'm wearing a knee length, green dress," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "That sort of flares out here and has see through arms."

"Sounds nice," Raven commented.

"How about you?" Leaf asked Raven. Raven thought for a minute.

"I should really look for something," she said after a long pause, "When is the dance?"

"Tomorrow," Celeste said from the changing room. Leaf and I giggled. Raven jumped up and walked out into the shop to have a look at the dresses. "So that leaves Dawn. What are you wearing?"

"Well…" I said, "I've made my own dress this year."

"_Made_?" Celeste asked, poking her head out of the changing room. Leaf nodded.

"She made my dress too!" Leaf said loudly, "And May's and Misty's."

"Wow," Celeste said, "I'm impressed."

She disappeared once again into the changing room.

"So what's it like?" Celeste asked.

"Well…" I started, "It's purple."

"Purple?" Celeste asked, "To match Paul?"

"He does like purple," I agreed, "And it's sort of knee length. Sleeveless and has a sort of corset on it."

"Corset?" Raven asked, coming back into the room with a few dresses in her arms. "I obviously walked in on the wrong bit of the conversation then."

Celeste walked out of the changing room, fully dressed. She held the door open for Raven.

"Thank you kindly," Raven said as she walked into the changing room. Celeste let the door go and it slammed shut. Celeste walked over to me, hands on hips. She was scrutinising me as if I had something wrong with me.

"I still can't believe you and Paul are an item," Celeste grumbled, "I so wanted to dance with him. I suppose there's plenty more fish in the sea, though."

"I am slightly worried," I admitted, "About Ursula and the gang. What if they decide to do something at the dance?"

"You think they're going to do something?" Leaf asked. I nodded slowly. Celeste glanced at the two.

"Well, _I _wouldn't worry about it," Celeste said with a shrug. I nodded.

"Maybe you're right," I agreed, "But what about May and Misty?"

"Hopefully we can avoid them the whole night," Leaf said.

"Hopefully," Raven agreed from the changing room.

"Are you going with Gary, Leaf?" Celeste asked. Leaf blushed red but nodded. Celeste smirked before flicking out her hair. "Well, well, I must be loosing my touch. Two gorgeous guys snapped up by two other girls."

"You're not used to that are you?" Raven said.

"Not at all," Celeste replied, "But if anything does happen, you can bet that Gary and Paul will look out for you."

"Yeah," Leaf agreed.

Raven walked out of the changing room wearing a dress. It was a dark blue colour with a bit of sheen on it. It was beautiful and suited her really well. The bodice was laced with black netting while the skirt hung nicely. It was just above the knee in length at the front but the back went to the floor. The sleeves were off the shoulder. Raven gave a nod as she checked it over.

"I'll take this one, I think," she said. Celeste nodded.

"I think you may have finally found something half decent for yourself," Celeste commented. Raven smiled.

"I guess so," Raven agreed.

"You look amazing!" Leaf yelled. Raven beamed at Leaf before muttering her thanks and returning to the changing room to get changed. Maybe this dance wasn't going to be so bad.

~R~

"Will you… For the love of Arceus, Ketchum," Paul warned Ash for the third time in five minutes. I was stood next to Paul, tying Gary's bow tie while Paul did Ash's tie for him. Gary was scowling at Ash for some reason.

The boys looked cute in their formal attire. Paul was wearing a black jacket and trousers with a white shirt and a purple tie. I had talked him out of a bow tie, it was easy to, since I preferred ties. I had also made him the tie he was wearing out of the spare material I had from my dress. We matched perfectly.

Gary was wearing grey with a green bow tie and a green cumber band. I smoothed out his shirt before letting him go back to whatever he was doing beforehand. In the corner Drew was fiddling with a rose. He was attempting to put it through a button hole but he wasn't doing very well with it. He had an indigo suit on with a black shirt and purple bow tie. His hair was styled back. He looked over at me, smirking.

"Ow," Ash moaned, "Paul, that hurts!"

"Then you should stop squirming," Paul replied. I tapped Paul so I could take over from him. Slowly Paul moved out of my way and I attempted to tie Ash's tie. It wasn't as easy as I thought. Ash just seemed to move, a lot. I found my patience slipping when Paul clamped Ash's shoulders still.

"Hey," Ash complained. Finally I managed to get the tie just right. I let out a sigh as Paul released Ash. Ash rubbed his arm before stalking off towards the fridge. I walked to Paul.

"Do you like it then?" I asked as I tugged gently on his tie. Paul nodded slowly as he looked at it. I could tell he wasn't too impressed. I huffed slightly, dropping the tie and looking round the room. Paul leaned in to me so his mouth was next to my ears.

"The material looks so much nicer on you, though," he muttered. I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"Creep," I replied.

"Just intelligent," he commented as he straightened up. I giggled softly. Gary was prancing round the room. I observed the three guys from next to Paul.

"These shoes are going to kill my feet by nine o'clock," Gary said.

"Does this look alright?" Ash asked, pointing to his neck.

"Maybe I should put more moose in my hair," Drew said to himself as he looked in a mirror. Paul put his hand on my shoulder. I smirked as I knew perfectly well what he was thinking. I pulled away from him, twirling so I was facing him.

"So do I get a kiss?" I asked, "Before you tell me I'm the prettiest girl in the world?"

I was teasing him of course, but I loved the slightly annoyed expression on his face. I giggled again. To my surprise he pulled me into his body and pressed his lips against mine. Paul's arm slipped round my waist as we kissed. He was gentle, just like he always was.

"Ew," Drew complained. Paul's arm shifted from my waist, telling me that my boyfriend was making a rude gesture to him.

"I'm actually quite amazed," Gary commented as the two of us pulled away. Paul glanced at Gary, raising an eyebrow at him, "You didn't burst into flames."

"Maybe it's the concussion," Drew agreed, "I hear they can change your personality."

"Must be it," Gary said with a nod. Paul rolled his eyes.

"You're just jealous," I told them, "You want your own Paul to sweep you ladies off your feet."

There was a short silence as Drew and Gary's jaws dropped in sync. Paul smirked proudly at me. Gary was the first to recover.

"That's it," Gary told me. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from Paul. "Paul's being a bad influence on this poor, sweet girl. We're removing her from you, Paul."

"You're only over reacting because you know it's the truth," Paul said. Gary growled at Paul until Ash walked over to Paul.

"So… Does anyone know if there will be an all you can eat buffet?" Ash asked.

"And thus the tone is set for the night," Drew remarked. He looked at his watch as Gary told Ash that there was a buffet on. Ash's face broke out into a large, toothy smile. Paul didn't look too impressed. Drew got their attention once more. "We should go."

"You guys go ahead," Paul told them. The guys looked at Paul with accusing eyes. Paul looked a little confused to why they were glaring at him. "What?"

"Why do you want to be left alone in the apartment?" Drew asked.

"I said you three go ahead, not Dawn," Paul snapped. Drew and Gary exchanged looks before mischievous grins spread across their faces. Ash looked confused.

"Why? What are you and Dawn going to do, eh?" Gary asked, poking Drew in the ribs with his elbow. Drew nodded. I swear I saw a vein throb on Paul's forehead.

"Perverts," I commented, "It took me three hours to get dressed, I'll have you know!"

"Three hours?" Drew asked, "That's all?"

"GO!" Paul snapped. Gary and Drew rushed out of the apartment, dragging Ash behind them. Paul rubbed his head as the door closed.

"Why did you tell them to go ahead?" I asked. Paul looked at me for a few seconds before he fumbled in his pocket for something. I suddenly became anxious since I wasn't used to Paul acting so nervous. In the end, he produced a corsage from his pocket.

"Sorry it's not as good as something you could make," he told me as he walked forwards. I held out my hand and he tied the delicate item around my wrist. I looked at it in joy. It was beautiful.

"It's great, Paul," I said. It was a white rose with a few purple flowers attached to it on a white ribbon. Paul nodded.

"You look beautiful," he stated. I wrinkled my nose slightly.

"Just beautiful?" I asked. Paul stroked my cheek tenderly before he kissed me once more. He didn't have to say anything more. I hugged him slightly as we kissed. Slowly we pulled apart. I giggled nervously.

"You looked worried," he said, "When I was digging round in my pocket. What did you think I was looking for?"

"Oh it's nothing," I said too quickly. I felt my cheeks flush. Paul gave me a look. He wasn't buying that. "Well, you were fumbling. I thought you were trying to find a… ring box or something…"

"Dawn," Paul said, exasperated, "I've told you, you terrify me. Arceus knows how the hell I'd propose to you when I get nervous about giving you a stupid corsage."

"Paulie Waulie is afraid of me?" I asked.

"Terrified to the bone," he deadpanned. I smiled at him before an evil thought came into my head.

"So you are thinking about proposing to me?" I asked. He knew I was teasing him because he smiled.

"I do intend to marry you," he told me, softly, "But not after two months of dating you, you idiot."

I giggled before I linked arms with him.

"I'll tell you now, I am not making my own wedding dress," I said. We laughed as we left the room.

The party was in full swing when the two of us arrived. Ash was already raiding the buffet while Drew was stood by the drinks table, looking worriedly over at Ash. I saw Gary and Leaf dancing on the dance floor close to Raven and Ascot. Celeste was talking happily to Wyre and Silver. Silver looked bored.

"So, how's it shaking, Love-Birds?"

I glanced over my shoulder to see Lyra stood behind me. I smiled at her.

"Lyra-chan," I chirruped, "You look amazing!"

"Why thank you," Lyra replied as she twirled round for me to see her whole dress. It was a red cocktail dress which went to her knees. The top part was silky while the skirt was layered in different fabrics. Her hair was up in a bun. She smiled at me before walking past me.

"Have a nice time, kids," she sang before walking towards Silver. Paul watched her in interest as she stood next to Silver and told him something. Silver nodded at her and she walked off.

"Are those two… together?" I asked Paul.

"I was about to ask you that," Paul replied. We walked towards Drew since he looked bored.

"Oh, that's what you were doing," Drew said as he saw the corsage on my wrist, "Great, now I owe Ash money. Gary does too."

"Do we have trouble yet?" Paul asked. Drew shook his head. There was no sign on May or Misty.

"Perhaps they decided not to come," I suggested.

"Or maybe they killed each other," Paul said. Drew nodded.

Paul glanced over by the door and blinked a few times. I looked round to see what he was looking at. My jaw dropped as I saw May wearing a tight red dress that was hardly long enough in the body to cover her bum. It was sleeveless and tight. On her arm was… Brendan. I bit my lip, closing my eyes as I heard Drew gasp.

"What in the world…" Drew said, trialling off at the end. He looked like he was going to throw up or punch someone. I looked over at May as she joined Ursula's table of social harpies. Drew began laughing suddenly. "I get it."

"Get what?" Paul asked, eying Drew carefully.

"She's infiltrated them," Drew explained, "To get information."

He laughed to himself as he walked away from us. I looked at Paul worriedly.

"You should go and make sure he's OK," I told him. Paul nodded before dashing off in the direction Drew had gone in. I stood awkwardly on the spot for a second. Leaf and Raven were dancing still. Ash was still raiding the buffet. I let out a sigh.

"Can I keep you company until Paul returns?" Silver asked. I jumped, not expecting him to be there. He was stood holding out his hand for me to take. Did he want to dance? I gently took his hand and he led me to the dance floor. We danced slowly since I wasn't very confident.

"Is Drew alright?" Silver asked, "He looked ill."

"Suffering from a touch of broken heart," I replied, nodding over towards May. Silver looked mildly surprised at May's attire.

"I think that's slightly against the dress code," he commented. I chuckled lightly. Silver looked at me. "And Ash is raiding the buffet."

"Yeah," I said. We fell into silence. I looked around the room, wondering if Misty was going to make an appearance soon.

"Have you talked to them since you fell out?" Silver asked. I shook my head. "Then you won't know why they've had a change in heart?"

"Not a clue," I replied.

"No matter," Silver stated, "I'm sure it's got something to do with hormones, stress and constipation. It usually is."

"You're very blunt aren't you?" I asked. Silver smirked. "Lyra thinks you're a lost cause."

"Because I am," Silver replied.

"I don't think you are," I told him, "You're a little strange. A little wooden, but you're not totally lost."

"It's nice of you to think that," Silver stated, "But I don't really care what you think."

"Of course not," I agreed, "You only care about one person's opinion on you."

"Oh?" Silver asked.

"Lyra-chan of course," I replied simply. Silver's grip on my hand tightened slightly as I said this, telling me I was correct. I smirked. "So it is true then. She told me you don't like it when she's in trouble."

"Because she lacks the ability to look after herself," Silver remarked.

"And why would _you_ care about _her_ safety or _her_ ability to look after herself?" I asked. Silver stopped dancing, turning his cold, harsh gaze on me. He didn't look too impressed with my accusations. In fact he looked pretty mad. I stood my ground, praying Paul would come to save me before Silver snapped at me. People danced round us like we were the centre of everything. The other dancers didn't exist anymore. There was only Silver and I stood glaring at each other. Suddenly Silver smirked and chuckled darkly to himself. We began dancing once more.

"No wonder Paul likes you," he said, "You're his equal."

"Equal?" I asked.

"Think of it like this," Silver explained, "There's ying and yang. Ying is the total opposite to yang but they have one thing in common with each other. If ying was stronger than yang, then there would be no balance, therefore there would be no ying and yang, there's only be ying, because it would over power the other half. So ying and yang have equal weight, equal strength so they can co-exist peacefully."

"An interesting thought," I commented.

"You're just as stubborn as he is," Silver went on, "Instead of you shrinking away when he snaps at you, you fight back. You're equals."

"True," I agreed. Silver stopped dancing once more and let go of me. I looked round to see Paul was approaching us.

"How's Drew?" I asked. Paul glanced at Silver before answering.

"He's been better, Gary's sat with him," Paul replied. Silver nodded before walking off. I sighed as the red head walked away. "What were you talking about?"

"Nothing really," I replied, "He was analysing our relationship."

"We have another problem," Paul stated as we walked off the dance floor, "Well two."

"OK," I said waiting for him to explain. Paul pointed over towards the drinks table where Misty was stood arguing with Melody. I blinked a few times. At least Misty was dressed appropriately in the long blue dress I had made her. I looked at Paul worriedly.

"That's not good," I commented.

"You think that's bad," Paul stated. He didn't have time to continue because there was a flurry of music and the lights dimmed. Everyone fell quiet as two lights shone at the door way. Apollo, the school head master, walked through the door wearing a Rocket dress suit. Beside was stood a man I had never seen before, but by the way Paul was staring at him, I could tell it was very bad.

"Welcome, students," Apollo said, "Tonight we have a very special guest. This is Pegasus, head of research at Team Rocket. He will be staying here for a while. Please make him feel welcome."

"Yes, sir," we students replied automatically. I looked up at Paul.

"I think that problem is bigger than Misty," I commented quietly.

"My thoughts exactly," Paul agreed.

~R~

Paul and I were dancing when Apollo called us over. To be precise, he called Paul over but Paul dragged me along with him. We walked slowly up to Apollo and Pegasus. Pegasus was a tall man with spiky black hair and a thin beard under his lips. He was wearing all black.

"This is Paul Shinji," Apollo stated, "He's the best in third year."

"Shinji?" Pegasus asked, raising an eyebrow. Paul nodded. Pegasus looked at me. "And who is this? Your girlfriend?"

"Dawn Hikari, sir," I replied.

"Shinji and Hikari?" Pegasus asked raising his eyebrows even higher, "Well, what an odd combination."

"Quite right," Apollo agreed, "Who would have thought?"

"Even their children are together," Pegasus remarked.

"As I hear it, you two make a good team in raids," Apollo said to us before looking at Pegasus, "They managed to subdue Lance and one of his followers on a mission. Miss Hikari managed to take out Lance on her own."

"So we have you two to thank?" Pegasus asked. Paul nodded once.

"Dad," Ascot called through the crowd. He appeared, dragging Raven behind him. Raven smiled at me. Pegasus regarded Ascot with suspicion for a few seconds until his face became neutral once more. Ascot wasn't put off by his father's behaviour. He bowed in respect. Raven copied the movement.

"There you are, boy," Pegasus said coldly, "I wondered where you were. I see you found your girlfriend again."

"Mr Pegasus," Raven said brightly, "I hope you travelled well. I heard it was quite stormy near Cianwood."

"Yes," Pegasus said, "It was."

"Are you enjoying the dance, Dawn?" Raven asked me. I nodded. "Me too. I was surprised to see that Mr Grumpy Pants was dancing."

"He's been great," I said in Paul's defence. Paul rolled his eyes, making Pegasus and Apollo chuckle. Paul wasn't used to people laughing at him when he did this but he managed to keep his surprise to a minimum.

"Well, we won't keep you four," Apollo said. Pegasus nodded and waved his hand. Ascot and Raven bowed again. Paul and I quickly copied them before dispersing. The four of us walked over to the buffet table.

"That was awkward," Ascot muttered.

"Is he always like that?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Ascot replied. Ascot looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I wonder why he is here actually. It's strange."

"I know," Paul agreed. Raven nodded too. Raven let out a sigh before she picked up a bread stick. She bit into it before passing it on to Ascot. He looked at it oddly before he ate the rest of it.

"I guess we wait to see what happens," Raven said. The rest of us nodded. She quickly grabbed onto my wrist. "Bathroom, Dawn."

"OK," I said as I was pulled towards the bathroom.

Once inside the long room, Raven began to re-apply some mascara. I watched her, wondering why she had dragged me in here for that. In the end she put her make up away and looked at me.

"You think I'm weird, right?" she asked. I nodded. "It's OK. I just wanted to get some air."

"Bathroom air?" I asked. Raven laughed nervously.

The door of the room opened and in walked Ursula and Melody. Great. I wondered if they had been waiting for a chance like this. Raven stood up straight as the two of them walked towards me.

"So this is where you are hiding, is it?" Ursula asked.

"What do you want, Ursula?" I snapped.

"Well," she said with a smile on her face, "I was wondering how such an ugly little thing is still dating Paul. I mean, I thought he had taste but I guess not."

"Paul would still have taste if he decided to date a can of garbage rather than you," I said. I mentally face palmed as I said this. Stupid tongue. Stupid Paul for rubbing off on me. Raven giggled from behind me. Ursula turned to me, eyes blazing.

"You're going to regret that," she spat before clawing at my face. Thankfully she missed because her nails were sharp and probably plastic. I jumped backwards to avoid her. Raven prepared to interfere. Ursula glared at her. "Now what are you going to bore me with?"

"Leave us alone," Raven told her, "Just go."

"That all you got?" Melody asked, "Sick hair?"

"Sick hair?" Raven repeated. Raven glared at Melody before taking an angry stamp forwards. I held her back, instantly forgetting about Ursula. She slapped me hard across the face. I fell on the cold tile floor, banging my head on a cubicle door. Raven looked down at me. She went to check on me but Melody grabbed her hand. I slowly got up.

"Oh," Ursula said, "Usually people have the brains to stay down. Are you thick in the head as well as ugly? You're nothing but a weak little girl. Paul doesn't deserve you. He should have someone like me. I'm pretty. I'm smart. I'm everything you're not."

Throughout her mad ramblings, I was staring at my finger. The blow to my head had left my scalp bleeding so when I went to check it, my fingers were coated in blood. I turned my eyes on Ursula.

"Shut up," I snapped, rage bubbling in my stomach, "You think you're so great but you're not. Paul loves me, I love Paul. Can't you understand that?"

"How could Paul love you?" Ursula asked, "Really. You're just something he's using before he moves onto the real girlfriends. Girls like me. You should be thankful he's given you two months. By this time next week, you'll be single again, because he doesn't love you. No one can ever love a thing like you."

I lost it. I yelled as I raised my hand at her. Ursula looked confused before she went shooting across the room in a multicoloured beam of light. She smacked into the wall, before sliding down it. She landed on the floor unconscious. There was a stunned pause. Melody looked at me, then at Ursula.

"How did you do that?" Melody asked. Raven raised her hand. It was glowing in a white haze. Melody collapsed onto the floor.

"Well," Raven said dryly, "I didn't expect you to do that."

"Sorry," I said as I looked at my hands, "I just…"

"It's fine," Raven waved me off, "It's all part of learning."

We looked at the two girls on the floor. Raven smiled manically before tugging at Melody.

"You wanna have some fun with these two?" she asked. I smiled too.

"You're just as evil as Paul, you know," I replied. Still, I wasn't going to let this slide so easily. It was time for revenge.

**Who is this Pegasus and what will he do? Hmm? If you're eager to know more please look at my blog at rosieshiba-plotfairycomehome . blogspot . com where you will find other random goodness as well as a look into Rocket Academy and my up coming fic :) Hehe. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to tell me what you think!**

**RSx**


	20. Of Making Up and Breaking Apart

**Hehe. Hi there. Erm… How do I put this nicely? I seem to have a slight case of writer's block on this story at the minute so I may have to drop down to one update a week. I don't really want to do that but I don't want to run out of chapters to post either so I'll let you know on Sunday :)**

**In other news, I'd like to say thank you to: Foxgrl18, LeafxGreenx3, splitheart1120, Raxrazor, dattebayo4321, WoWgurl, ninetailsgirl94, Lynx of the Sand, lightwolfheart, AnimefangirlRosiclau300, RaveOn21now22 and obsessionist97. Thank you all for reviewing!**

**Chapter Twenty: Of Making Up and Breaking Apart**

Paul watched me as I attempted to show him what I had done to Ursula. So far it wasn't going well. Paul raised an eyebrow as I failed for the third time. I let my hand flop by my side. Paul got to his feet and walked towards me.

"Maybe you just need to find the trigger," he told me.

"I guess so," I replied. Paul smirked.

"So will they remember?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I'm pretty sure Raven took care of it," I explained, "She altered their memories so they don't even remember going into the bathroom."

"Good," Paul commented. We looked round as we heard someone running towards us. It was four o'clock. We were by the lake. Who in the world would be coming towards us?

Leaf appeared at a run. She was wearing a blue tank top and a pink skirt. She had her white hat on which looked sort of odd.

"There you two are," she panted as she stopped in front of us. She regained her breath. "Sorry for barging in but I had a sudden thought."

"What?" Paul snapped. Leaf giggled nervously.

"Well," she began, "I was about to meet Gary and I thought suddenly, I have this thing at the apartment which I need and is really valuable but I don't want to carry it with me. So I thought, Paul is such a powerful trainer, he could watch it for me."

"That's it?" Paul asked, "You blew off Oak for something you want me to look after?"

Leaf nodded quickly. She took something out of her pocket and passed it to Paul. Paul eyed it weirdly. It was a white stone attached to a golden chain. I stared at it. It was glowing faintly.

"What is it?" I asked Leaf. She giggled.

"It's an evolution stone," she told us, "It's super rare. So can you look after it for me? Please?"

"Sure," Paul replied with a shrug. He went to put it in his pocket, but Leaf squealed. She waved her hands backwards and forwards in a quick motion.

"No, you should wear it," she said hurriedly, "To make sure you don't loose it."

"Fine," Paul said, annoyed as he slipped the chain over his head. It hung nicely round his neck, although he didn't seem to be pleased about wearing it. Leaf let out a sigh.

"Are you OK, Leaf? You're acting a little odd," I asked. Leaf nodded.

"Just in a rush," she replied, "I should really go and meet Gary now."

"Probably," Paul agreed. Leaf walked off but doubled back.

"Can I ask another favour?" she asked. She put her hands together in front of her face and closed her hands. "Can you not mention this to anyone, not even me?"

"Why?" I asked.

"It's a long story," Leaf replied with a roll of her eyes, "I may have swiped it from Pegasus when he wasn't looking."

"You swiped it from Pegasus?" I hissed at her. Leaf rubbed her head. I let out a sigh. "Fine. I won't mention it."

"Thanks," she said happily, "Now, to Gary! Bye Paul. Bye Dawn."

She ran off back the way she came. Paul and I watched her, slightly worried by her actions.

"She's weirder than usual," Paul commented. I nodded. "Anyway. Back to what we were talking about."

"Oh yeah," I said. I watched as Paul tucked the pendent down his shirt. I smiled as he muttered something about it being cold.

"If you can make a trigger, you'll be about to use it again," Paul went on, "You were mad so you need to tap into that feeling."

"Are you sure?" I asked. Paul nodded.

"It's like training a Pokémon," Paul explained, "If they learn a new move then they have to learn to tap into what ever caused that move before they can use it at will."

"Are you calling me a Pokémon?" I snapped, folding my arms and glaring at Paul. I felt a sudden pressure in my head. It was strange but I was suddenly very annoyed at Paul. Paul let out a sigh.

"You're part Pokémon, Dawn," Paul told me, "If you don't want to learn how to control your powers, then don't come crying to me when it all goes wrong."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, "I didn't realise that by default, you become my trainer. Is that the only reason why you've stuck around so much? Because you think I'm one of your Pokémon?"

"Where are you getting this from?" Paul asked.

"So you're not denying it?" I snapped.

"Denying what?" Paul asked.

"The fact you're only with me because I'm Suicune," I stated. Paul let out a growl.

"Of course not you idiot," he snapped, "Where would you get an idea like that?"

"Because you want to train me," I said, "You want me to use my powers. I mean you do want to bring down Rocket so why not use me?"

"You're a moron, you know that, right," Paul growled. He walked over towards the tree where our bags were. I stood on my spot for a few seconds before my head went suddenly blank. I blinked a few times before I rubbed my head. What was that about?

I noticed Paul had grabbed his stuff. I ran over to him. I hugged him from behind, burying my head into his back. He stopped walking.

"Now what?" he asked. I slowly let go of Paul and stood up straight. I put a hand on my chin.

"A thought occurs," I said. Paul turned round to face me. He looked a little annoyed still.

"Really?" he asked.

"May and Misty suddenly went from normal to mean, right?" I asked. Paul nodded. "Before that they had trouble sleeping. Misty slept too little, May too much."

"Yeah, so?" Paul asked.

"This happened at the same time," I went on.

"Will you get to the point?" Paul snapped. I poked him in the stomach for yelling at me. Paul looked unimpressed.

"And they drove everyone away from them, correct?" I asked. Paul nodded.

"I've never been a big sleeper but I was up earlier than I used to when Suicune was coming to me in my dreams," I explained, "And Raven dozes quite a lot, I've noticed, but never really sleeps."

"So?" Paul asked.

"Then there's the mood swings," I said, "And now the isolation."

"Which means, what?" Paul asked. I looked up at Paul for a few seconds before I grabbed my bag.

"I need to go and talk to them," I told him before I ran off. I didn't have time to look at Paul's expression because I was already gone. I ran down the path back to the dorms. Outside the girls' dorms I typed in the code and ran upstairs, pausing for a few seconds to get the apartment keys out of my bag.

As fumbled with the keys in the door, I became aware that Paul was coming up the stairs behind me. He looked concerned. I offered him a reassuring smile before I walked into the apartment. Paul shuffled in behind me.

"Misty? May?" I called. Slowly the two doors opened and the girls walked out. They glared at each other before they glared at me. I turned round to Paul and smiled at him.

"Can you wait outside?" I asked him. Slowly he nodded. He left the apartment soon after that. I looked back at my friends.

"What do you want?" May asked.

"I came here to stop this," I replied calmly, "I know what's going on, you two. You're closing your hearts and pushing the world out because you're afraid of something. I don't know what it is, but I know it's scaring you. Just tell me what's going on."

"Who do you think you are?" May yelled. I grimaced at her tone. I was about to shy away when I remembered why I was there. I closed my eyes.

"I'm your friend!" I shouted back at them, "So start treating me like one! Not like something you can walk all over, I'm trying to help you but you two are being so difficult!"

"Go back to your boyfriend," Misty sneered. May nodded and they walked towards their bedrooms.

"So that's it?" I asked quietly. May and Misty paused. "That's why you're mad at us? It's about the guys, right?"

"Guys?" May scoffed.

"I'm with Paul and Leaf's always hanging out with Gary," I explained, "What ever you two are going through, you know that Leaf and I will always be there to help you right?"

"You and Leaf have no idea how I feel!" May roared, "I'm forever sleepy. Drew hates me and you two moved out! It makes me feel so mad."

She let out a scream before she charged at me. I don't know what took over me but I raised my hands up.

"Water Pulse," I stated before water shot from my hands. May flew backwards, contacting with the hard wooden floor with a thump. Misty glared at me in shock as May sat up quickly. For a few seconds nothing was said until May jumped up and charged towards me again. Somehow I managed to jump out of the way. May ran into the table. She grabbed a fork from the middle of it and ran towards me once again.

"Aura beam," I said. The multicoloured beams rushed out of my hands like they had the other night. May was knocked back and frozen to the floor. Misty looked between May and I before she collapsed onto her knees. She looked at her hands before looking at me. She was shaking.

"You attacked her," Misty said shakily, "You attacked May… How did you… do that?"

"It's a long story," I replied with a sigh. I looked at May before walking towards Misty. Misty hugged herself. "Are you alright?"

"I think I am," she replied, "Oh, Dawn. I'm so sorry."

"What for?" I asked, tilting my head to the side and crouching down in front of her.

"I've been pushing you away when you're the only one I should've been looking for," she replied. She let out a sigh. I was confused for a few seconds but the apartment door opening worried me slightly. Fortunately, it was only Paul checking in on us. He walked into the apartment quickly as he saw May on the floor. He walked over to May to make sure she was alright. She growled at him as he walked over to her. Paul glanced over to me, making me sweat-drop.

"Told you I could do that," I told him. He nodded and walked over to Misty and I.

"What's going on?" he asked calmly.

"I think I know why they were being weird," I replied. Misty looked away from us.

"We're not weird!" May yelled.

"If I asked you what the traits of electric types and fire types were, what would you say?" I asked Paul. Paul raised an eyebrow like he was confused at the question. Misty bit her lip. Paul thought over this for a minute.

"Electric types are tetchy and stubborn, fire types are aggressive and rash," Paul replied slowly.

"What about their sleeping habits?" I asked. Once again Paul thought over this with a confused look on his face.

"My Magmortar could sleep all day if I let it," Paul stated, "Electrivire sleeps like Torterra."

"Oh," I said, looking at Misty.

"Although," Paul went on, "I rarely wake up Electrivire if I see it's napping. I did that once, I won't again."

"What happened?" Misty asked.

"It shocked me," Paul explained, "Made my arm go dead for an hour."

"Boo hoo," May said from her frozen prison on the floor.

"What's this got to do with anything?" Paul asked, ignoring May. Misty looked down once more.

"It's a secret," she muttered.

"It's OK, Misty," I told her, "Paul knows about me."

"About you?" May asked, "What about you?"

"I'm Suicune," I said as I got to my feet. I pointed at Misty. "You're Raikou and May is Entei."

There was a weird silence in the apartment for a few seconds before Paul shook his head.

"You've got to be kidding me," Paul said, "You mean to say that they've been here all this time and we didn't… Gary is useless."

Misty looked worriedly at Paul. Paul raked a hand through his hair.

"So you two have been having dreams? Of the legendary Pokémon?" I asked, "And they're telling you that you're the 'chosen one'?"

"Yeah," Misty replied uncertainly.

"Yes," May agreed stubbornly.

"And you've both accepted that, right?" I went on.

"Err…" Misty said.

"Not exactly," May replied, "Let me out of this ice, Dawn. It hurts!"

I looked over at May nervously. I walked over to her, wondering how I could get her out.

"I don't know how," I told her.

"WHAT!" May yelled.

"You should be able to get out by yourself," Paul said, "You give off enough hot air."

"That's it Paul! You are so dead!" May yelled as she began wiggling around on the floor. Ignoring the threat on my boyfriend's life, I picked up the fork that May had dropped when she was encased in the ice. I hit the ice a few times with the fork and the whole ice shattered. May jumped up, rubbing her arms.

"Thanks," she said, "It was so cold in there."

"Sorry," I apologised.

"So that's it, is it?" May asked, raising her eyebrow, "You tell us who were are and you want us to smile and go 'yay'?"

"You need to accept this," I told them, "So that Celebii can manifest. When Celebii gets here then we can stop Rocket."

The two girls didn't seem convinced by this. I turned to Paul for support. Slowly, May and Misty looked at him too.

"What?" he asked, apparently annoyed.

"You knew about Dawn?" May asked.

"Yeah," Paul replied.

"So then the guys know about her?" Misty asked. Paul shook his head.

"I'll tell them when they need to know," Paul replied.

The apartment door flew open and Leaf scrambled into the room.

"Dawn!" she yelled happily. She hugged me round my waist. "You'll never guess what!"

"What?" I asked, after blinking twice.

"Gary asked me out!" Leaf cried. The four of us froze as Leaf said this.

"What?" May snapped. Leaf nodded a few times.

"Gary asked me out," Leaf repeated. We still remained silent for a few seconds. Leaf let go of me and slowly stood up straight. "Is something wrong?"

"Gary… asked you out?" Misty asked.

"Yes," Leaf replied. May and Misty let out a shriek before they jumped on Leaf. Leaf squealed as the two assaulted her with hugs. I looked across at Paul who seemed a little confused. I walked up to him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oak asked out Leaf," he stated, digging his hands into his pockets, "And you're wondering why I'm confused?"

I hugged Paul round the waist, leaning into his chest. I looked up at him, smiling. He looked at me.

"You're weird, Paul," I told him, "Can't you be happy for a few minutes?"

He opened his mouth to reply but there was a knock at the door. A few seconds later, a teacher stepped into the room. She looked at the five of us with cold eyes.

"The whole school is meeting on the school field," she told us, "Be there in ten minutes."

"What's going on?" Misty asked.

"Mr Pegasus has something he wants to show everyone," the teacher stated before disappearing. I looked up at Paul once again. He looked as confused as the others.

"We should go," Paul told us, "We can talk about this later."

"Sure," the three girls said. I let go of Paul so I could follow him.

~R~

The whole school had poured onto the playing field. I clutched onto Paul to make sure I didn't get lost in the crowd. We soon found the other guys and raven near the front of crowd. Gary greeted Leaf with a hug, making Drew and Ash pull gagging faces. Raven rolled her eyes. As Misty and May followed us, they all fell silent. May and Misty smiled awkwardly.

"Hi guys," Misty greeted.

"Um… Yeah," May agreed. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Silver was right," Paul told the lads, "It's a girl thing to change into monsters for a week or so."

"So you two are back to normal now?" Ash asked, stepping forwards to Misty. Misty nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah," she replied, "Sorry I've been such a… grouch lately."

"Same here," May said, "We're all allowed to have a period of weirdness right?"

"Sure, May," Drew agreed, "Shame you're weird twenty-four, seven."

"I'm fine being weird," May replied, "But I couldn't bear being a grasshead all day every day."

"Any one know why we've been called here, any way?" Raven asked before Drew could retaliate.

"Nope," Ash replied, "We were just sent for."

"Where's Ascot?" Misty asked.

"With his father," Raven replied, pointing over towards where Pegasus was stood. Ascot looked a little anxious. He looked over at Raven. He was pale, confused looking and a little twitchy. "He doesn't know what his father is up to but he doesn't think it's good."

"I wonder what he wants to show us," Ash mumbled.

"Maybe they're going to attack Unova," Drew suggested, "And they want us to help out."

"No way," May replied, "We're not good enough to help take over Unova."

"He researches the Legendaries," Paul stated, "It's got to be something to do with them."

"They've captured one?" Gary asked.

"Wow," Leaf said, "That can't be good."

Raven and I looked at each other wearily. Our attention was drawn to Pegasus as he began to talk.

"I have ordered you here today for one reason and one reason only," he stated, "My sole reason for attending this school was to find out about the Legendaries. All my research has led me here. This is where they are all here."

There were confused whispers from around the circle. I looked up at Paul then at Raven. Beside me, Misty and May flinched. Gary and the other guys looked shocked along with Leaf. Of course they had no idea what was going on.

Pegasus held up a stone of some kind. It fit perfectly in his hand. It was white and sparkly. I had the distinct feeling I had seen it before but I couldn't remember where. The stone began glowing brightly. I blinked a few times, the light hurting my eyes slightly. Everyone seemed to explode. Paul pulled me into his body suddenly. I buried my head into his clothes, begging for the light to stop. The light dimmed slightly. I felt my body relax slightly, thinking that everything was over. I had nothing to fear from this light. I glanced at Paul to see he had also relaxed. There was no danger for us.

Until Misty began walking forwards.

"Hey, Mist," Ash called as he tried to grab her. The moment his hand contacted with her there was a sharp crackle and Ash recoiled. "It felt like a massive electric shock."

"No," Gary snapped. I went to walk forwards to stop her but Paul held me back. No, Misty! She couldn't go with him! It wasn't fair! I called her name a few times but I was cut off when May began walking forwards.

Drew grabbed her round the waist to stop her. She growled before flames leapt out of her body. Drew stumbled backwards. Ash and Gary went down to help him. His uniform was singed and his hands were red raw. He cringed at the pain. Paul looked worriedly as Raven and me.

"_We should be fine_," Raven said in my mind. She must have sent the same message to Paul because he nodded. "_We're already manifested. These aren't._"

"_What about Celebi?_" I asked.

"_They should be fine too,_" Raven replied. Just as Raven said this Leaf took a step forwards.

"Leaf?" Gary asked as he let go of Drew and rushed to stop Leaf going any further. "It's OK, they're going to be fine."

"My friends," Leaf said quietly. There was something weird in the air, like pressure was building.

"Leaf, it's going to be fine," Gary said, putting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and offering her a sincere smile. Leaf turned her neck to look at him. Her eyes were glowing green. I gasped and took a step back. Paul grabbed me instinctively.

"They're going to hurt my friends," Leaf told Gary. She wrinkled her nose at Gary before swatting him away from her. Gary went flying across the ground.

"Gary!" Ash yelled as he ran to check on him. Gary laid unconscious on the floor. Ash knelt down beside Gary and checked for a pulse. I turned back to Pegasus. The three girls were now stood in front of him like his obedient slaves. Ascot spun round to his father.

"That's enough!" Ascot yelled, "Turn it off."

"There's one more," Pegasus said. I grabbed Paul's jacket in my hands. They were coming after me. I knew they were. I watched as Pegasus pointed the stone at May, Misty and Leaf. They screamed a blood curdling scream. Paul grabbed me tighter. I glanced down to see Raven and Drew grasping each other. Drew was trying to get up but Raven was holding him down. Raven wasn't looking at the girls anymore. Their thoughts on their own were doing enough for her.

I looked back at the three. They had hues of colours surrounding them. Misty's was yellow, May's was red and Leaf's was green. May and Misty straightened up.

"Where is Suicune," Pegasus asked. Ascot froze where he was stood.

"Father?" Ascot yelled.

"Tell me where Suicune is," Pegasus ordered Misty and May. Ascot moved out of the way as Misty and May began to turn round. I gasped when I saw their eyes. May's were blazing red. Misty's were bright yellow. They began walking in my direction. Pegasus looked at where they were walking but thankfully there were quite a few girls in our area so he hadn't figured it out quite yet. Raven had got Drew to his feet. Raven looked alarmed but refused to look at me. Misty and May raised their arms and pointed at me.

"Dawn," they both said. Pegasus smiled cruelly.

"Dawn?" he asked, "Come to me Daw- no- Suicune. Come to me."

"Dawn," Paul muttered to me, "Dawn."

Drew and Ash were staring at me in shock, Raven was looking at Ascot.

"Father," Ascot was saying, "That's their best friend. Dawn's not Suicune. She can hardly handle school never mind a legendary Pokémon."

Pegasus punched Ascot in the jaw, sending him to the floor. Ascot didn't get up.

"Dawn!" Paul yelled. We ran. Paul clung onto my hand as he dragged me away from the crowd. People moved out of our way, unsure what to do. Some things flashed past us. Nets. They were trying to catch us. I stopped and turned to see a group of fifteen grunts running behind us.

"Aurora Beam!" I yelled as I held my hands in front of me. A multicoloured beam shot from my hands. The grunts were frozen instantly and I resumed running with Paul by my side. I grabbed his hand once more.

We ended up by the lake, panting like crazy. I doubled over, panting like my lungs had just crumbled into ash. Paul leant on a tree, watching to make sure no one had followed us.

"We need to move," he told me.

"I know," I replied, "Where to?"

There were noises from the trees. I looked up at Paul for an answer but he didn't give one. I looked at the lake. I got up and grabbed Paul's hand. I dragged him to the lake edge.

"Do you trust me?" I asked. Paul looked at the water then at me. He nodded once. I smiled at him before looking back at the water. We stepped onto the water and then took a few steps. Paul looked round in wonder before we ran into the middle of the lake. I thought 'down' and suddenly we were under the water's surface. Paul shielded his eyes instinctively but lowered his hand when he realised there was no danger. I scanned the floor of the lake. Paul pointed at some rocks.

"There's a cave," he stated. I nodded and we floated towards the cave. Paul put an arm round me as we laid on the lake floor in the shelter of a small, shallow cave. I buried my head into Paul's chest.

"You shouldn't have come," I muttered, "You're going to be in so much trouble. They'll kill you."

"I'd rather be killed," Paul replied, "Than sit back and do nothing to help you."

"Paul," I said. Paul looked at me.

"I love you, Dawn," he told me sharply, "I would never leave you."

"Thanks," I replied, hugging him tighter, "I love you too."

We waited silently for the next few minutes.

"There's nothing here," a voice from the surface said.

"They have to be somewhere," Pegasus snapped. I closed my eyes, biting my lip.

"How about the lake, sir?"

I grasped Paul tighter. He looked confused. I realised he couldn't hear what was being said on the surface. I tried to tell him what was going on but I couldn't speak.

"Send in a Pokémon," Pegasus ordered. I buried my head into Paul's chest. His arms tightened round me. He understood what was happening. We clung onto each other tightly, knowing in a few seconds we would be discovered. Sure enough a few seconds later, a Carvanha appeared. It spotted us and raced towards us.

Maybe I would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact our lives were in danger. As the Carvanha swam towards us, gaze set, smirk on its face, a red Gyarados swam up to the surface, taking the Carvanha with it. A few blue Gyarados followed the red one up to the surface.

"What the-?" Pegasus yelled.

"There must be a nest of them sir!" a grunt replied. I let out a breath. Paul relaxed slightly. We both tensed a few seconds later when another blue Gyarados swam up to us.

"Come with me," it told me. I blinked a few times. Did that Gyarados just speak? "We can help you."

"OK," I said with a shrug. Paul looked confused once again but he rolled his eyes and went with it. Gyarados swam above us to hide us from view as we were lead to a large cave to the edge of the lake.

We swam into the cave, following Gyarados until it went up wards. I followed. We reached the surface. I looked round to see we were in a cave.

"We are under the Mountain," Gyarados stated. I looked round to see there was some ground like a shore. I floated out of the water so that Paul and I were stood on the surface. We walked to the ground before the energy seemed to catch up with me and I fell over, completely drained. Paul caught me and helped me to the floor. He looked at the Gyarados.

"Thank you," Paul said. The Gyarados nodded.

"We have seen you at the shore," Gyarados told us, although Paul couldn't understand, "You never hurt us. We will help in whatever way we can."

"Thank you," I said. I looked up at Paul as Gyarados disappeared back under the water.

"Looks like there's no way out," Paul said. I nodded.

"I'll ask Gyarados when he returns," I muttered. I tried to get up but Paul stopped me.

"Get some rest," he told me, "I'll wake you if I need to."

"Thanks," I said lying back down and instantly falling to sleep. Paul remained by my side apart from a brief time when he left to do something. We were alone in the world.

**This was around about 13 pages long on my word doc. I hope you enjoyed. There will be an update on Sunday so look out for it. Until then enjoy my new fic when I upload it tomorrow and check out my blog for more tasty treats :)**

**Don't forget to tell me what you think!**

**RSx**


	21. Of Sacrifices and Escapes

**Sorry for the delayed update. I was updating yesterday when my computer got a virus and is now under going Techno-therapy (i.e. being hit repeatedly by Techno, my sponsor) so I am now on an older computer I'm sorry to say. **

**Thanks to: xXCanaryXx, KuraiDawn, ninetailsgirl94, AnimefangurlHellyeahXD300, LeafxGreenx3, splitheart1120, dattebayo4321, Lynx of the Sand, foxgrl18, LuckyTigger, AnimexLuver4Ever and zflame393 for reviewing :) I hope this chapter is worth the wait for you.**

**Chapter Twenty One: Of Sacrifices and Escapes**

"_Dawn,_" I opened my eyes as Raven's voice flashed through my mind, "_This is the only message I can send to you for the time being._"

I looked round the empty cave to see Paul's and mine Pokémon playing in the water, except for the fire-types of course. Paul was laid next to me, asleep.

"_Rocket have the area covered looking for you two,_" Raven's voice continued, "_We'll come and find you later, when we can._"

"_Who's we?_" I asked.

"_It's a long story,_" Raven replied, "_But we'll find you._"

"_Keep safe,_" I told her. I cuddled closer to Paul. It had really happened, hadn't it? We were fugitives. If they found Paul, he would be executed on the spot. If they found me, I would become their Lab Rattata. I shivered.

"You cold?" Paul asked.

"Sorry," I said, "Did I wake you?"

"I was just dozing," Paul replied as he sat up. He rubbed his head and looked over to the Pokémon. He still held me closely into his body, like he worried I would disappear.

"Raven says Rocket is all around," I told him. Paul nodded.

"As long as they've got Bandana and Carrot Top, we're helpless," Paul said. I nodded realising this was true. May and Misty would be able to sense where I was but that meant I could also see where they were.

"They can't sense me," I stated, "They haven't fully manifested yet. They don't have that power."

"Can you sense Raven?" Paul asked.

"She's at school," I replied. I blinked a few times as I sensed something else. "Lyra…"

"What?" Paul asked.

"I can sense Lyra," I said, "She's worried. She's… one of us."

"And you've only just sensed that?" Paul asked. I nodded. Paul thought for a few minutes. "If you're the manifestation of a Pokémon then the more you use your powers, the more your powers will grow, just like training a Pokémon."

"I'm actually turning into one, aren't I?" I asked worriedly. I grabbed onto Paul. "I'm becoming a freak of nature."

Paul stroked my hair. He kissed my head slowly, lingering for a few seconds until he pulled away.

"You're not a freak of nature," he told me, "You're just better than anyone else."

"Uh uh," I said, shaking my head, "I'm not better than you. You're so calm and caring. I've gotten us into so much trouble. If I'd rejected Suicune then none of this would be happening."

"If you'd rejected Suicune, you wouldn't be you," Paul said, "And I wouldn't like you half as much. Troublesome is who you are. Troublesome is who I love."

We spent a few days in the cave going about our lives like nothing had really happened. Piplup would go and collect us food which the Gyarados would bring back for all of us. I slowly came to realise I could understand some Pokémon, but it only seemed to be Water-Types. Paul and I had set up camp. We only needed a few things to help us, like clean clothes, but they were minor details. What I'd give to have a fresh set of clothes.

I have no idea how long we were in the cave, although the Gyarados only travelled up to the surface during the night so when ever they left, I gathered it was night. Paul and I became almost nocturnal. Thankfully, we could both function happily enough without having lots and lots of sleep. The Pokémon varied. They would often doze during the day anyway so it didn't really affect them. Paul and I made use of out time by planning methods of attack and also practicing with my powers. Believe it or not, Paul was like my trainer. He was training me like I was a Pokémon, yet he didn't treat me like a Pokémon. He gave me tips and pointers but didn't order me around like the others.

The Gyarados and Piplup had just returned with our daily ration of berries.

"How do they get so much?" Paul asked as he looked round at the collection of berries the Gyarados deposited.

"Well, the Flaafy and Mareep help me," Piplup explained, "Along with the Hoothoot and Pidgeys."

"The other Pokémon help out," I translated for Paul. I had long since gotten used to hearing Piplup speak. It was no big deal to me anymore. Paul nodded. He decided just to accept the fact I had acquired this new ability.

The Gyarados became unsettled by something. I glanced into the water to see something just under the surface. The Gyarados backed up so they were round the edges of the cave. Paul stood up. The Pokémon prepared themselves for the worse. I got ready to fire an attack.

There was a large splash of water and Raven flew out of the water. She floated in mid air, beaming at us.

"Raven," I said happily. She landed on the shore and we hugged. I pulled away from her sharply as I looked her up and down. She looked tired, no drained even. Her usual smile had disappeared. She looked like she could break down any moment.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked.

"It's nothing," Raven replied as she waved Paul off, "It's just been a rough couple of days."

"I bet," Paul remarked, "How many days?"

"Five," Raven told us, "It's been the earliest opportunity I've had to come and see you two."

"How is everyone?" I asked.

"The boys are under lock and key," Raven told us, "Gary woke up a few days ago. Leaf really did a number on him. Drew's arms are still burnt but they're looking good."

"Silver?" Paul asked.

"Ascot, Silver and I have been working on a plan to get the boys free," Raven explained, "But it's sort of risky."

"How risky?" Paul asked.

"It involves Lyra and me attacking the Academy," Raven said. I looked at Paul then at Raven. "While the commotion is going off, you two should be able to get out of here no problem."

"Where can we go?" Paul snapped.

"I'm… I'm not sure," Raven replied.

"Where's the facility that they're holding the others in?" I asked.

"No," Paul said, "We can't go there. They'll be expecting it."

"We need help," Raven said shakily, "With those three captured, we need others to come and help us."

"Are you saying we need to find more?" I asked Raven.

"The Darkness is coming," Raven nodded, "Even if Ho-oh and I sacrifice ourselves, there's no way you can win."

"Who else is there?" I asked.

"Go home," Raven told me. I blinked a few times.

"Home?" I asked confused. Paul looked a little confused too but he nodded.

"Go back to Sinnoh," Paul said.

"Why?" I asked. Raven shrugged.

"I have no idea," she replied, "But I… You'll find something in Sinnoh."

"When's the attack?" Paul asked.

"Tomorrow," Raven replied. She dropped two rucksacks off of her shoulders. "They're full of civilian clothes."

"Thanks," Paul said as he picked them up. I looked at Raven as I hugged her once more.

"I'll send you a message when it's underway," she said as she pulled away. She flew up into the air and began twirling round quickly. She plummeted into the water and disappeared. I looked at Paul to see what he was doing. He had frozen upon hearing the splash of water.

"We'll go to Sinnoh," Paul stated as he stood up. He looked down at me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "If we can find the other legendaries, we may be able to beat Rocket."

"How do we find them?" I asked.

"Arceus," Paul replied. I blinked a few times.

"Arceus?" I asked.

"It's a legendary Pokémon," Paul explained, "But it controls Dialga, Palkia and Giratina."

"Will Arceus help us?" I asked. Paul nodded.

"I know of a place," he said, "My father used to tell me about the lakes of Sinnoh including a hidden one called Sendoff Spring."

"Sendoff Spring?" I asked looking confused. Paul let out a sigh.

"My father found it," Paul said, "He attempted to go into the Distortion World so he could get Giratina to help defend Sinnoh from Rocket. However, Rocket found him before he could find anything."

"Paul," I said touching Paul's arm gently. He clasped my hand in his.

"But if we can get to Sendoff Spring we might be able to get into the Distortion World," Paul continued, "Maybe Arceus will be able to do something for us."

"OK," I agreed liking the sound of this plan. I thought for a few seconds.

"We can make our way to-"

"Stop!" I yelled. Paul frowned at me. I pointed to my head. "Raven will be able to read my mind."

"She can read mine too," Paul replied. I shook my head.

"Only when you're close to her," I told him, "Otherwise you just fade into background noise. Don't tell me where we're going, just take me and I'll follow you."

"Fine," Paul said with a nod.

"What happened to your father?" I asked.

"He became depressed when my mother was executed," Paul replied as he looked away from me. "I was there. I was being taken to the academy but my father refused to let me go without a fight. They restrained him and turned the gun on him but he still fought. Then an Elite, called Scorpio, ordered them to kill my mother so they did."

"I didn't realise…" I trailed off.

"My father stopped fighting and Reggie too," Paul said, "But I've got something to fight for."

"That's why you joined the mission?" I asked, "To fight for your mother?"

Paul shook his head.

"I joined the mission so I could stop Rocket from hurting my family," Paul replied, "My future family as well."

We looked into each others eyes for a while until we decided to get changed and get ready. The attack could happen at any time. Paul changed into his usual non-school uniform clothes: his teal turtle neck top with purple jacket and black trousers. He looked across at me and let out a sigh.

"Can't you wear something useful?" he asked. I pouted.

"For your information," I told him, "This outfit is totally flexible and the skirt has shorts attached."

"Whatever," Paul said. I stamped my feet a few times, glancing back at Paul to see an amused smile crawling onto his face. I looked down at my outfit. I wore a white camisole top under a black vest, then a thigh long pink skirt (which hid the shorts) and knee high pink boots. I clipped my hair up with the pimpernel clip Paul had given me before putting a white beanie hat on my head. To finish it off, I tied a short dark pink scarf round my neck.

"So?" I asked.

"I didn't realise you get could clothes like that," Paul said as he walked up to me. I looked at the outfit.

"I made it myself," I replied, "For missions that required blending in."

Paul rubbed the fabric of the black vest between his fingers. He nodded like he was impressed.

"You ready?" he asked. I nodded. We walked to our Pokémon and made them gather round us. We told them what was going on and they listened intently. All we had to do was wait.

The hours ticked by quickly to say we were waiting for something big to happen. The Pokémon were returned to their pokéballs as the time got nearer. The Gyarados looked quite nervous but they seemed to understand what was going on. I was thankful that they were going to help us. Paul and I were sat on the floor of the cave. Paul looked pensive while I was fretting like crazy. Paul put his hand on mine to calm me down.

"Paul," I said, "I'm scared."

"It's going to be alright," he told me. I nodded but still wasn't convinced. "You know I'd never put you in danger, right?"

"It's not me I'm worried about," I replied, "It's you. I've got this horrible feeling in my gut that you're going to get hurt."

"You're just worried," Paul said, "Don't be. I can look after myself."

"I know but," I said as I put my hand on my heart, "It's like my heart's trying to warn me about something."

"Dawn, if anything does happen," Paul said. He paused for a few seconds before he took my hand in his. He looked into my eyes, a calm smile on his face. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked, confused.

"For being with me," he replied, "Putting up with me. You're the most important thing in my world. Thanks for just being here."

I pecked him on the cheek before I snuggled into a hug. He arms wrapped round me and we sat like this for a while.

"_It's time_," Raven's voice stated in my head, "_Sorry for interrupting._"

"_It's fine,_" I replied, "_Be careful._"

"_Good luck,_" Raven said. I slowly pulled away from Paul and gave him a nod. He took a deep breath. We both jumped to our feet and walked towards the water. The nest of Gyarados met us.

"Thanks for all your help," I said to them with a bow. Paul gave them a small bow too.

"Please, save the world," the red Gyarados told me, "Save it from Team Rocket."

"We'll try," I replied, "And we'll not fail."

I grabbed Paul's hand and gave it a small squeeze. He smiled at me. We walked onto the water and gradually descended into the crystal depths. The Gyarados followed us to the surface of the lake, ready to cause a distraction if necessary. There was a large cluster of Magikarp also waiting for us. Paul looked around, mildly surprised at how many Pokémon had gathered to help us. I smiled at them, ecstatic for the help.

"_Go now!_" Raven's voice echoed in my brain.

"Let's go!" I told Paul. He nodded as we shot to the surface. The clear night air hit us as we broke the surface of the lake. I gave a quick scout round but no one was around. We ran to the edge of the lake and hide in some bushes. I waved at the Gyarados before we disappeared.

"How do we get home?" Paul asked suddenly. I blinked a few times.

"On foot I suppose," I replied, "At least the oceans won't be a problem."

"We'd better get a move on then," Paul agreed. We walked carefully from our hiding place. Our hands tightly clasped each others, never wanting to let go. We walked for a few minutes without much trouble.

"Hold it," I turned to look round. I recognised the voice. It was Ursula! I gasped as I saw her wearing her raid uniform, a gun of some kind pointed at us. "I knew, I just knew you'd try to get out this way. Hiding in your precious lake. I knew it."

"Ursula," I said, "Please, just let us go."

"Never!" Ursula shrieked, "I'll never let Paul go!"

"You can have me," Paul said, letting go of my hand, "If you let Dawn go."

"Paul," I gasped. Ursula's eyes widened for a few seconds as she contemplated this. A smile worked its way onto her face. It was devious at best. Paul partially blocked me from Ursula since neither of us knew what she was going to do.

"I'm sorry, Paul," she said finally, "But I can't allow her to go free."

She raised the gun and aimed it for me. She shot it but Paul moved to the side. He was hit by two needle-like things that stuck into his shoulder. Ursula twisted a button and there was a buzz in the air. Paul sank to his knees suddenly. I blinked twice. It was a stun gun. I backed away slightly as Ursula reloaded her gun. Paul was coughing on the floor, his entire body shaking from the electric current which had just run through him.

"Paul," I muttered.

"Run," he growled.

"No," I snapped, "I'm not leaving you!"

"Run!" he yelled. Ursula had reloaded by this time. She pointed the gun at my heart and twisted the button once again.

"Bye, bye," she commented as she pulled the trigger. Somehow, and I'm not quite sure, but Paul caught the two needles. Ursula gasped as he fell onto the floor, shivering violently.

"Paul!" I yelled as I ran over to my boyfriend. I tore the needles from him and sat him up.

"Run, dammit," he told me. I buried my head into the crook of his neck.

"It's all my fault," I muttered. I knew Ursula would reload the gun. I heard a few clicks, the sound of a gun being reset. I looked at Paul for a few seconds. He was leant against me, shivering.

"Now this time, I won't miss," Ursula told me. She aimed once again at me. I stood up, carefully pulling away from Paul. I glared at Ursula.

"How dare you," I snapped, "You attacked my boyfriend! You've tried to humiliate me for years! You hated me for no reason for all that time! You poured acid on my arms and treated me like dirt! I'm not going to let you hurt him ever again!"

I felt power surge through me. There was a blue glow around me. I felt weird for a few seconds until I realised I had my hands on the floor. I figured I'd been shot by Ursula until she dropped the gun in shock. She yelled.

I opened my mouth and shot a Hyper Beam at her. She screamed and ran away as I fired another Hyper Beam in her direction. Content that she was no longer going to harm either of us, I walked over to Paul and nudged him with my nose. He glanced at me before his face broke out into a smile.

"OK," he said, "That stun gun was better than I thought. You look like Suicune."

I looked down at the floor to see I was no longer stood on two legs. I must have been on all fours because all I could see were two blue paws. I looked behind me to see I was a four-legged creature, blue in colour. The colour wasn't like an ordinary Suicune. It was lighter, like an icy blue. My hair, or mane as it was now, was its usual blue colour. How strange, I thought as I walked round in a circle. I nudged Paul again with my nose.

"Get on my back," I told him.

"You can't carry me," he replied as he rubbed his head, "I'm too heavy."

"Paul, you're not hallucinating," I said, "I am Suicune."

Paul looked up at me. His eyes trailed up and down my body before they widened in realisation. He ran his hand through his hair before he got to his feet.

"Well," he said, "This is… different."

"Just get on," I told him. I paused for a minute. My mouth didn't move when I talked. How weird! Paul stroked my fur gently. He slowly, and gently, climbed onto my back. I looked around before breaking out into a sprint. Running felt so easy. I must have being going fast since a few seconds later we were in Mahogany Town. I raced towards Blackthorn City, Paul holding on for dear life.

At this rate we'd be in Sinnoh in no time.

**So now here comes the real hard core story. Woo! Just an update, there will be two updates per week for the next three and a half weeks. Sad to say… Err… There's only 28 chapters of this story. I only have three more to write. Next update should be Wednesday unless my computer explodes. In the mean time remember to check out my blog and review me!**

**RSx**


	22. Of Searching and Family

**Phew, it's been a bit hectic with the computer lately. I'm glad I could post this though. **

**Thanks to .xX, Foxgrl18, Rawrazor, splitheart1120, LeafxGreenx3, dattebayo4321, AnimexLuver4Ever, Lynx of the Sand, RaveOn21now22, zflame393, AnimefangurlHellyeahXD300 and ninetailsgirl94 for reviewing. And an extra big thank you to everyone since Rocket Academy now has over 200 reviews! Thanks to you all XD So without any more delay, here's the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Pokémon.**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Of Searching and Family**

Paul and I walked through the streets of Veilstone City. It was busy and bright. Everyone was going about their daily routine without any fear of what was to come. I stayed by Paul's elbow. We were cautious about our surroundings. If anyone spotted us… I didn't like to think about that. Paul nudged me slightly.

"We should keep moving," he told me. I nodded.

I contemplated the last 48 hours in my head. Since our escape from Johto, both Paul and I had been a little tense. I remembered the conversation we had last night.

_Paul dumped a few items on the floor. I glanced at them. There were a few new outfits, makeup and hair dye. I eyed them carefully as I got to my four feet. I sniffed the clothes._

"_Er… Paul?" I said. He looked at me. "I don't think these will fit me."_

"_You'll have to change back into your human form," Paul told me. I sweat-dropped. How did he expect me to do that? It wasn't like I wanted to become Suicune but I had no idea how to change back into Dawn. I let out a sigh before walking around in circles for a few seconds. Paul watched me, concern etched onto his expression._

"_I'll figure it out," I told him, "So why did you buy the hair dye?"_

"_I thought it may help hide out identities," Paul replied, "I thought if we had the same hair colour we could pass off for siblings."_

"_Siblings?" I asked._

"_They're looking for a boy and a girl who are romantically involved," Paul replied, "Not siblings."_

"_True…" I trialled off. I looked around at the forest. How would I change back into a human? I needed to be human otherwise I was pretty useless to Paul. _

"_Why don't we go to Lake Valor?" Paul suggested. I nodded as he gathered up the stuff. Within minutes we were at the lake. Paul climbed off of me and walked to the water's edge where he began setting up the dye for his hair. I watched him absently before I decided to go for a trot on the water. I padded across the lake a few times before I grew bored and sat down. I watched Paul apply the dye to his hair. He looked so weird with brown hair. I giggled slightly as he looked up at me._

"_What?" he asked._

"_You look pretty weird with brown hair," I teased, "Less like a prune head."_

"_Says the girl who is a Suicune," Paul replied, smirking. He stood up once he'd finished applying the dye. "I'm going to take a bath in a few minutes."_

"_OK," I replied. I stood up so I could go to the shoreline and give Paul some privacy but before I could take another step, I noticed the moon come out. I looked up at the huge silvery ball and smiled. "Wow. It's beautiful."_

"_Yeah," Paul agreed. I felt so calm looking up at the moon. I slowly closed my eyes and allowed myself to bathe in the light of it. Wind rippled through my hair. I opened my eyes once again and went to walk forwards._

_SLAP. I slapped myself in the face. I let out a shriek as my hand shot to my cheek._

"_You alright?" Paul shouted from the shore. I turned round to him and nodded. _

"_Yeah," I replied, "Got a little carried away with my walking I guess."_

"_Try using your feet," Paul told me. I looked down on the water to find I was human again. I twirled round quickly._

"_Wow," I said, "How did that happen?"_

_I raced towards the shore, finding it a little weird to be on two feet again. Paul chuckled as I hugged him._

"_You kind of went all sparkly and then you were human again," he told me. I smiled up at him. He looked at me in a confused way before he grabbed my hair. I looked at it too. It was pure silver. I broke away from Paul as I checked my hair in the water._

"_Wow," I said, "No hair dye for me I guess."_

"_And you said I looked weird," Paul commented. He carefully pulled his t-shirt over his head. I blushed and ran into the bushes behind Paul._

"_You could have warned me before you did that!" I yelled at him covering my eyes._

"_And miss you running away like that? Never," Paul replied sounding highly amused._

"_I hope you catch a cold!" I shouted back._

_Thirty minutes later we were sat on the shore thinking about the plan ahead. Paul's new hairstyle still seemed odd to me, then again, so did mine. We were sat in silence for a while until Paul spoke up._

"_We should go and see if we can steal my dad's notebook," Paul stated. I nodded. "That will have all the information we should ever need to get into the other lake."_

"_What do we do once we're there?" I asked._

"_I'm not sure," Paul replied. I stood up, dusting off my new clothes. I put my hands on my hips and looked down at my boyfriend._

"_So let's go already," I said, "The quicker we get that book, the quicker we can get to safety."_

"_That's true," Paul agreed with a nod. He got to his feet too. He held his hand out for me. I took it and we began walking towards the big city._

Paul led me round the big city, every now and again retracing his steps because they'd changed the roads or something. I trusted the fact he knew where he was going. I walked calmly by his side. There weren't many Team Rocket grunts around, I noticed. I wondered where they would be. I guess they were too busy in Hearthome at the minute to come here. As I thought about this I collided with someone.

"I'm so sorry," I said quickly, scrambling to my feet.

"No, it's my fault," the guy said. I looked up at him, allowing myself I little gasp. The guy was older than I was by a few years. He had purple hair tied up in a pony tail and black eyes. He looked exactly like Paul. I noticed he was wearing an apron. It was Paul's brother! I jumped back slightly as I realised this. The guy looked at me confused. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," I said quickly. Of all the people in this huge city, I had to walk into Paul's brother. Wait… If Paul's brother was here then we could follow him to the house and…

I looked around. Paul had disappeared. I fretted for a few seconds as I wondered if he'd been abducted by Rocket in the two seconds since I last saw him. Maybe he'd been grabbed by a Rocket grunt when his brother appeared. Maybe they had been tracking us from the start!

"Dawn," Paul's voice snapped as he walked round the corner. He sounded annoyed but I couldn't care less. He'd just walked ahead. He was safe and sound. He paused when he saw his brother. "Reggie?"

"Hmm?" the guy asked, looking at Paul. The older guy titled his head to side as if trying to work out who Paul was. Paul was in the same sort of shock I had been in. "Sorry, how do you know my name?"

Paul let out a sigh before he walked towards me. He ignored his brother for a few seconds as he made sure I was OK. Reggie watched patiently.

"Could you be a little more careful?" Paul asked me. I nodded quickly.

"Sorry," I replied. Paul looked back at Reggie. Reggie smiled at us.

"So how do you know me?" Reggie asked.

"I'm… the son of an old friend of your dad's," Paul replied. He glanced at his hair. "Called Oak."

"Oak?" Reggie asked, "Oh, as in Professor Oak?"

"Sure," Paul replied, "He's my grandfather. I'm Gary."

"Oh yeah, I remember you," Reggie said, chuckling slightly, "I met you briefly once with my brother Paul. So what are you doing in the neighbourhood?"

"Visiting," Paul lied, "Grandpa is doing some research around here so I was showing my friend around the city."

"I'm Dawn," I said quickly, holding my hand out to Reggie, "My dad lives in Snowpoint City and helps Professor Oak out a little sometimes."

"Oh, I get it," Reggie said happily, "I didn't realise Oak was in town. Come on, come on. I bet my dad would love to see you again."

"Sure," Paul shrugged. Paul and I followed Reggie through a maze of streets until we came to a house with a large garden quite close to the city gym. Reggie asked Paul a few questions as we walked. Paul lied his way through them with ease. Being a student at Rocket Academy had its benefits I gathered.

Reggie led us into the house, closing a black metal gate behind us. I followed the two brothers in silence, wondering how this was going to end. The moment the front door was closed I let out a sigh. We were in now for the next step of our mission.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Reggie snapped, turning on Paul suddenly. I jumped behind Paul as Reggie scowled at him. "What were you thinking coming here after all this time?"

"Reggie," Paul replied, oddly calm, "It's not what you think. I have some very good reasons for coming here."

"Start listing," Reggie ordered. I peered over Paul's shoulder at his brother. Reggie seemed very different now. He was stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at Paul with cold eyes. Paul watched his brother for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. Paul walked past Reggie.

"Where's dad?" Paul asked.

"Out," Reggie replied, "You've not answered my question."

"I need his research on Sendoff Spring," Paul stated.

"Whatever for? So that Rocket can take over Unova or something?" Reggie snapped.

"Paul," I said quietly. Paul turned round and looked at me. He pointed at me.

"She was going to be killed," Paul told his brother, "And her friends are now lab Rattata's. We need to get to Sendoff Spring so that we can help save her friends."

"No way," Reggie argued, "You can't trade her life for the rest of the world."

"It's not like that," Paul told his brother, "It's something worse than that."

"Oh really?" Reggie asked.

"Please stop it," I said. Reggie and Paul looked at me. Paul put his head in his hand for a few seconds before he rubbed his forehead. "We escaped from the Academy. We're outcasts, wanted criminals now. We need to get to Arceus so we can save my friends and stop the darkness coming."

"Darkness?" Reggie asked, "What's that?"

"We're not sure," Paul replied.

"Please, just give us the research," I pleaded to Reggie, "I need it. Please."

"It's a trap," a gruff voice from another room said. Paul jumped and was suddenly by my side as another man walked into the room. I guessed this was Paul and Reggie's father. He had lighter purple hair and blue eyes. He glared at Paul with hatred in his eyes.

"Dad," Paul said.

"I can't believe you've turned into one of them," his father snapped, "You'd so happily come here to get something from your own father. Something they killed your mother for."

"Dad, please just listen," Paul tried to reason.

"No," boomed his father, "Get out!"

"Please, sir," I said stepping forwards, "I'm Dawn Hikari."

"Hikari and Shinji, working together for them?" Paul's dad scoffed, "How unoriginal. Trust those cowards to do this."

"I'm Paul's girlfriend," I blurted. His father seemed a little surprised by this piece of information. "We're not here for Rocket."

"Prove it."

"I'm Suicune," I told him, "The Legendary Beast in human form. Rocket have the other Legendaries and I have to save them. If you don't believe me, I can show you."

"Dawn," Paul growled at me. I smiled at him to show him everything was alright.

"It's OK, I can control it now," I said. I held out my hand with the palm facing up. "Whirlpool."

A tiny circle of water began spinning from my palm until it grew and grew. Soon it was at my eye level where I kept it from growing. I was perfectly in control. I smiled at the water as it span round and round and round. Reggie and his father took a few steps backwards.

"How… That's not possible," his father muttered. I made the water disappear by closing my hand up. Reggie looked at Paul in disbelief.

"You're dating her?" Reggie asked. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Because she deserves better, I know," Paul replied. Reggie chuckled. Their father didn't look so happy. He was still in a state of shock. Slowly he bowed his head, a smile appearing on his face.

"Fine," he said, "I'll tell you everything you'll need to know."

~R~

Fifteen minutes later both Paul and I were sat on a comfy sofa with a cup of hot chocolate in our hands. Paul's father was sat across from us.

"Dawn Hikari," he muttered. I glanced at him. "I should have known that Suicune would have chosen you."

"You know, that's the second time people have said something about Shinji and Hikari being together," I said, "What's so good about it?"

"Your father and I headed the Sinnoh resistance," Paul's father replied, "We planned the Veilstone uprising and we tried to take back Sinnoh from Rocket."

"I'm surprised they let us be in the same class," Paul remarked. His father smirked.

"Of course, you wouldn't be told about this, would you?" his father went on. Paul and I shook our heads. "Still, I find it amazing that you two are together. You hated each other as children."

Paul almost spat out his drink as he heard this. I coughed slightly, taking this piece of information as a bit of a surprise.

"Wait, I knew her before the academy?" he asked.

"Duh," his father replied, "You met quite often. And you used to beat each other up. A lot. Gareth and I always used to joke that if we ever needed some extra man power, we'd send you two into a Rocket hideout. The amount of injuries we used to get from trying to keep you apart."

"That's weird," I said, "I can't remember him."

"The last time you saw each other was when you were six," Paul's father told us, "You were that old when Rocket took over Kanto. Back then, the simpler days, when you two could happily hit each other with tennis rackets."

"Tennis rackets?" Paul asked, "I'm not going to ask."

"After that I started my research so I saw less of your father," Paul's father explained, "And the girls didn't meet up much. I often wondered if you were together in the academy. I'm sure it really helped your parents think you were safe, Dawn."

"Past aside," Paul said, "We need to know about Sendoff Spring."

"We need to go to Arceus as quickly as possible," I added. Paul's father thought for a few minutes.

"I can draw you a map," he said, "But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to do anything."

"How come?" Paul asked.

"Because," Paul's father said with a grin, "You'll need a distraction and distractions take time to organise."

"You can't be serious," Reggie said, popping his head round the door, "You're not going to…"

"Yeah," Paul's father said with a nod, "I am."

"Am what?" Paul snapped.

"I'm going to get the old band together again," Paul's father stated.

"What? No," Paul shouted, getting to his feet quickly. Paul's father stared at Paul for a few seconds before he let out a small chuckle.

"Paul," he said, "I shouldn't have lost hope while you were in that place."

"Dad," Paul said, but his father wasn't paying any attention to him. He got to his feet and left the room. Reggie edged into the room.

"Sorry, but we only have one spare room," Reggie said. Paul and I looked at each other.

"That's fine," Paul said, getting to his feet, "My room, right?"

"Yeah," Reggie replied.

"Come on, Dawn," Paul said to me. I jumped out of my seat and followed Paul upstairs. We walked into the first door on the left. This was Paul's room? A child Paul not this Paul. The room was blue with a single bed in the corner. A wardrobe was opposite it. There were shelves lined with books about Pokémon and other things. I looked round at it all. The Pokéball shaped rug on the floor, the stuffed Turtwig doll on the bed, the collection of different Pokémon figures on the windowsill. This was Paul's childhood?

"Don't laugh," he told me, deadpanned. I smiled at him.

"I wouldn't," I replied. I looked at the single bed, suddenly a realisation washing over me.

"We're sleeping in the same bed?" I asked. Paul glanced at me, then at the bed.

"Is that a problem?" he asked. I shook my head quickly, trying to fight a blush off of my face. Paul smirked. "I can take the floor if you want."

"No, really, it's fine," I said, "It's not like we've slept next to each other before. Right?"

"I don't mind," Paul said, "It's making you uncomfortable."

"No, no, it's not," I lied. There was a knock at the door. Reggie poked his head through the doorway.

"You two better not try anything funny," Reggie told us, "Good night."

"Night," I said, waving and blushing a furious red colour. Reggie closed the door behind him. I turned to Paul. "OK. I'm lying."

"I know," Paul said, "And I find it hilarious."

"Meanie," I remarked, "At least go somewhere else while I get changed."

"Fine," Paul said. He brushed past me and ducked out of the door. I let out a sigh before I got changed into some night clothes. Paul returned a few minutes later, already changed. We looked at each other weirdly for a second or two.

"Which side do you want to sleep?" Paul asked suddenly.

"I'll go next to the wall," I replied, pointing at the wall. Like I needed to do that. Paul nodded. I nodded. Neither of us moved. We stood staring at each other. I could feel my heart beating so fast in my chest. Finally, Paul let out a sigh. He hung his head.

"I'll sleep on the floor," he said.

"No," I said. He looked at me. "It's just… I mean…"

We fell into an awkward silence until I sat down on the bed.

"I don't want to get pregnant!" I shouted. Paul blinked a few times before he ran a hand through his hair.

"You're on about Raven's prediction, right?" he asked. I nodded. He sat down beside me. "Well, I do like to prove Raven wrong."

I smiled at him. He took my hand in his. I looked into his eyes.

"Let's go to sleep," he said. I nodded. We climbed into bed. I snuggled into Paul's chest. He put his arms round me. I don't know how long we lay there awake, but getting to sleep was more awkward than I had ever known. Paul leaned over and kissed my cheek. I glanced up at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Does something need to be wrong for me to kiss you?" he asked. I poked him in the ribs. We both laughed quietly. "Good night, Dawn."

"Good night, Paul," I replied. We finally closed our eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**Hehe. I had a bit of trouble writing Paul's dad. He doesn't actually have a name either. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed all this. While you're reading this, I'm working on the final few chapters T_T Wish me luck!**

**Reviews are appreciated very muchly!**

**RSx**


	23. Of Springs and Legends

**Wah T_T You've nearly caught up with me! Also I have miscalculated. There will be one chapter less than I originally intended due to the fact I can't count. However, because of how bad my maths is there could be, in all probability, more or less than the predicted amount of chapters. **

**With that in mind I would like to thank my wonderful reviewers:**

**.xX, zflame393, Foxgrl18, splitheart1120, KuraiDawn, colbyjackchz, LeafxGreenx3, Lynx of the Sand, dattebayo4321, ninetailsgirl94, lightwolfheart, RaveOn21now22, AnimefangurlHellyeahXD300, HappyHereford and rin96. I love how this list keeps getting longer! You're all great!**

**Now on with the chapter!**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Of Springs and Legends**

We walked out from Veilstone the next day. Reggie walked between Paul and I with his arms crossed like he was on a mission or something. Paul's father walked ahead of us with a map in his hand. I glanced up at Reggie to find him scowling in a similar fashion Paul usually did.

"Did you sleep well?" Reggie asked me when he caught me looking at him. I nodded. "Paul?"

"I slept fine," Paul replied, "On the floor."

Reggie looked at his brother in shock for a few seconds. I giggled as the two brothers then began to bicker about sleeping on the floor. Paul was the perfect liar. He could stream lies from no where. Like I could. I could see why Paul's father still didn't trust us.

We stopped near Verity and then took a sharp left so we were walking in the opposite direction to the other Lake. Paul looked slightly confused by this but didn't say anything. We were on high alert. All we needed was for a routine sweep to be in the area and it would end here. I shuddered as I thought about Raven.

Raven. Lyra. May. Misty. Leaf. I was going to save them no matter what the cost. I couldn't allow Rocket to get away with this.

"I thought dad wasn't allowed to leave the city," Paul was saying to Reggie as I tuned back into reality.

"He called in a favour from an old friend," Reggie replied, looking at me.

"Oh no," Paul said, now talking to his dad, "You called her father?"

"Wait?" I yelled.

"I called him and explained that his daughter needed his help," Paul's father shrugged. The three of use sweat-dropped, Reggie's jaw dropping in shock. Paul was the first to recover.

"You're insane, you know that right?" he told his dad. The older man shrugged.

"Yep," was the reply, "That's why your mother loved me. Totally bonkers."

"Yeah," Reggie said. We came to a sudden halt. Paul's father folded away his map and stood to one side.

"Here we are," he stated.

"I don't see a lake, dad," Reggie said.

"It's beyond here," Paul's father explained, "We just need to get in."

"And how do we do that?" Reggie asked. Paul and I stood for a few seconds as Reggie and Paul's father tried to find an entrance.

Snap.

Both of us whipped round. I raised my hand in a defensive way while Paul grabbed Torterra's Pokéball. Reggie and his father were too busy to hear anything and while they were arguing.

"Reggie," Paul said slowly. Both of them stopped arguing and looked over at us. Paul raised his hand to tell them to be quiet. They both remained silent for a few minutes. No more noise.

"What's wrong?" Reggie asked finally. Paul and I looked at each other before dropping our guard.

"Nothing," Paul replied. We turned back to them. Something moved out of the corner of my eye.

"Aurora beam!" I yelled.

"Torterra, frenzy plant!" Paul ordered. The two attacks landed in the trees with a loud explosion. The two of us stood motionless for a few seconds before something came out of the smoke.

Wyre.

"You caught me," he said with a cruel smile crawling onto his face, "Or have I caught you?"

"How did they find us?" Reggie asked.

"A twisted an arm of a very dear friend," Wyre replied, "Don't worry. She'll be fine eventually."

"Raven?" I asked.

"Lyra, actually," Wyre replied, "Raven almost killed me with her stupid attacks. Lyra is so weak."

"She's not," I snapped. Wyre held up a crystal of some kind. It looked like Suicune's crown in colour and material. I watched it as it began to glow. I slammed my hands over my ears as I felt a piercing scream rattle through my head. I collapsed onto my knees. Wyre was laughing.

Then he stopped. The whistling stopped too. I glanced up to see Paul's chest was glowing. Confused to what it was, Paul checked what it was. It was the necklace that Leaf had given him. The stone was glowing bright white like the one Pegasus had. I opened a closed my mouth a few times as I realised it was Pegasus's stone. Paul seemed to be in the same sort of shock as I was. Wyre too seemed to be a little surprised.

There was a rumble behind us. We glanced back to find that the lake had suddenly appeared. It was beautiful. I smiled at it as I gazed over the pink flowers and the clear blue lake.

"Thank you for showing me the way," Wyre drawled. Paul and I looked at him. "Now prepare to-"

"Frenzy Plant," Paul muttered while Wyre rattled on. Torterra unleashed another powerful attack. The attack caught Wyre by surprise and soon had him tangled in a sea of vines. Paul smirked as the boy wiggled.

"We can't leave him," Reggie said.

"They'll know where to find us," Paul's father agreed. Paul returned Torterra. Instantly the vines disappeared. Wyre smacked into the ground, instantly unconscious. Paul sat him up and put his hands together before tying them with some string. Reggie helped to pick Wyre up.

We walked into the spring, looking around for any signs that may take us to Arceus. We stumbled around for a while until Reggie and Paul got tired of carrying Wyre. They dumped him on the floor, not really caring if he got hurt. I looked around. Someone had to be here.

I glanced at the lake to find something was stood there. I blinked a few times before someone began walking towards us. It looked like a woman. She was wearing a long grey dress with her reddish-purple hair up in a bun. I walked towards the water.

"Dawn," Reggie called. I ignored him as I walked to the lakeside. I watched the woman carefully as saw she was hovering above the water.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Dawn Hikari," I replied, "Suicune."

"And those?" she asked.

"Friends," I stated as Paul stood beside me, "Apart from the one who is tied up."

The woman nodded. A large portal appeared behind her.

"Come," she stated. Paul and I looked at each other. Reggie and Paul's father dragged Wyre towards us, but they stopped when they saw the portal in the middle of the lake.

"How, exactly?" Paul's father asked the woman. Paul took my hand in his. I reached out for Reggie's hand.

"Keep hold of each other," I told them. With us each holding onto someone, we stepped forwards onto the lake's surface. Reggie and his father let out a gasp as we walked on the top of the water. The woman smiled at us as we walked towards her. She let us pass into the portal. It felt weird like we were being pushed and pulled slightly until we appeared in a large dark hall. It felt like we were rotating.

I let go of Reggie and Paul. I stepped forwards to see what was there. I glanced around. The hall was empty. Not even the woman from before was here. I got the feeling the woman wasn't truly there anyway.

Slowly I turned around and saw a Pokémon staring at us. It was a weird looking creature but I knew exactly what it was. Arceus. Reggie and his father looked at the Legendary Pokémon in awe while Paul looked a little surprised that it was just stood there.

"Suicune," Arceus said, "You have returned here."

"I guess so," I replied, "I came here to ask for your help."

Arceus nodded slowly.

"I know why you are here," Arceus stated, "You want help so that you can save your friends."

"Yeah," I said, "You see… They've been captured and if I don't rescue them, the Darkness will come."

"Do you know what the Darkness is?" Arceus asked. I shook my head. Paul stepped forwards.

"We know Rocket has something to do with it," he added, "But whatever it is, we don't know the details."

"I can not save your friends, Suicune," Arceus said, "But I may be able to help your mate's."

"Mate?" Paul's father asked.

"I don't think Pokémon date, dad," Paul replied in a sort of bored tone which made me giggle. "But you can save Gary and the others?"

"Yes," Arceus said, "But you must choose. I can only do one thing for you."

Paul and I looked at each other before we nodded.

"Can you save the guys?" I asked, "Please?"

Arceus bowed his head. The four of us stood looking up at Arceus hopefully as the Legendary began to glow. I bit my lip. Suddenly something heavy fell around us, followed by loud groans. I turned round.

They were piled about five metres away from Paul and I. Reggie and his father peered to get a better look at the boys. Silver was the first one to move. He sat up rubbing his head, annoyance marring his face. Beside him, Ascot was flat on his face, bum in the air. Ash was on top of Drew while Gary was flat on his back on their left. Slowly they began to sit up.

"Er, Ash?" Drew grumbled, tapping his fingers on the floor, "Can you get off me?"

"Sorry," Ash climbed off of Drew quickly, muttering his apologises. Drew sat up and began to sort out his hair as if nothing was wrong. Gary looked at Ash and Drew before looking at Ascot and Silver.

"Hey, where did you come from?" Gary asked leaping to his feet and pointing at Silver.

"What do you mean, where did we come from?" Ascot snapped, "Where did you come from."

"Er… Hi… guys," I waved at them. Paul was staring at them like they were all a bunch of idiots. Ascot, Ash, Drew and Gary yelped and jumped a few feet backwards while Silver looked oddly surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Drew yelled, "Did they get you? Are we all doomed?"

"Take a look around," Paul told them. The boys jumped up and looked around searching for trouble. I glanced at Paul and let out a gaasp. I tugged at his hair.

"Hey, your hair is back to normal," I told him. He looked at me, eye widening.

"So's yours," Paul replied, pulling at my hair gently. We blinked at each other a few times. "Weird."

"Where are we?" Drew asked as he looked around the room. Silver glanced at Paul's dad and Reggie. Then he saw Wyre on the floor.

"Wyre found you?" Silver asked. Paul nodded.

"We managed to subdue him," Paul replied with a smile. Silver smirked back in a slightly sadistic sort of way.

"Good," Silver said, "Maybe we'll be able to get some information from him."

"Er… guys?" Ash mumbled.

"Yeah, then we can get on with rescuing the girls," Gary agreed, punching his hand with his fist.

"Guys?" Ash repeated, tugging on Drew's sleeve. Drew brushed him off, ignoring him totally.

"Then we can crush Rocket and save the entire world!" Drew yelled.

"Guys…" Ash stuttered.

"What?" Drew and Gary snapped. Ash pointed at Arceus in a few shaky movements. The five guys looked at the legendary Pokémon. They leapt backwards, yelling in surprise. Even Silver seemed to be surprised that Arceus was watching them.

"And these are the people who are going to save the world, is it?" Paul's dad asked in a rather sarcastic tone. Paul and I sweat-dropped as we looked at Reggie and Paul's father. Paul's father was sat crossed legged on the floor looking rather bored while Reggie had a look of amazement on his face. Paul's father did have a point.

"Welcome to you all," Arecus welcomed the boys.

"Er… Hello… Arceus… sir," Drew mumbled.

"You are the chosen few to go and save the others," Arceus told them.

"Cool," Gary remarked, "But we were going to do that anyway."

"I need to save Misty," Ash told Arceus, stepping forwards with a determined look on his face.

"She may be a monster but she's still May," Drew agreed. "And I need to rescue her."

"Poor Raven," Ascot mumbled.

"Lyra can never help herself out," Silver remarked.

"And Leaf too," Gary added sadly.

"I can see that your hearts are pure," Arceus spoke, "If that is true then you will have help."

"I thought you said you would only help us once," Paul said. Arceus nodded slowly.

"I shall not help you," Arceus told him, "But these shall."

From out of thin air more Pokémon appeared. Ash yelped as Groudon appeared next to him. The ground type let out a mighty roar, almost deafening us. Next in was Kyogre. It glanced at Drew as it landed on the floor beside Groudon. Jiriachi flew around Gary a few times, laughing at him, leaving sparkles behind it as it flew towards Kyogre. Latios and Latias flew round the room before landing neatly beside each other. Finally, Rayquaza floated into the room with some sort of grace. It hovered beside Kyogre staring intently at Paul and I. The boys looked round in wonder.

"Will you accept?" Arceus asked. There was a short spell of silence.

"I will," Paul said, taking a step forwards.

"Paul, wait," Reggie said, "You don't know what's going to happen."

"Don't worry," Paul told his older brother, "I'll be fine."

"Well if Paul's doing it," Gary muttered, "Count me in."

"Me too," Drew agreed.

"Me three," Ash nodded.

"Wow, Ketchum you can count," Paul commented.

"I didn't miss you at all, Paul," Ash snapped.

"I'll do it," Ascot said uncertainly. Everyone looked at Silver waiting for him to reply. He simply nodded.

Arceus nodded too. Suddenly the six legendaries floated in the air for a few seconds before different coloured hues grew around them. Rayquarza let out a roar before it turned totally green. It flew straight for Paul knocking him clean off his feet. Paul landed on his back a few feet away from me.

"Paul!" I yelled, rushing to his side. He rolled onto his side, holding his chest in a pained way but seemed to be OK.

"I'm OK," he told me, "It just took me by surprise."

"Ah!" Ash yelped as a red hue descended on him. Drew coughed as a deep blue one entered his body. Gary was surrounded by yellow light before he sparkled. Silver and Ascot stood back to back as Latios's blue hue and Latias's pink hue soared around them. The two hues suddenly broke off and flew into their chests, Silver getting blue and Ascot getting pink. They collapsed onto the floor.

"The power transfer is complete," Arceus stated.

"What do you mean?" Paul's father asked, getting to his feet and walking closer to Arceus.

"The boys now have the powers of a legendary Pokémon," Arceus explained, "However, they will only have a limited amount of power. If they exhaust their powers then they will disappear."

I looked up at Arceus before making sure Paul was alright. He seemed a little dazed but other than that, fine. He tried to get to his feet but he slipped back down onto his bum. He didn't try to get up again.

"You need something to find the others," Arceus told us as the boys attempted to get to their feet.

"What do you mean?" Gary asked.

"You need something to find them," Arceus repeated.

"OK," Gary muttered. I stood up and walked towards the Legendary.

"What sort of thing would we need to find them?" I asked.

"A bond," Arceus replied, "Or something of use."

"A bond?" Ascot asked, "Well, we each have bonds with one of the girls. I might be able to find Raven."

"Or me with Leaf," Gary agreed. Arceus shook his head.

"A bond of something more than adolescent love," Arceus told us, "Or friendship. It would not be a problem if Suicune was taken."

"OK," Drew muttered, "So how do we find them? Bait Dawn or something?"

"No," Silver said as he got to his feet, "I can find them."

"Er… Silver," Drew said, "I wouldn't say you had a 'bond' with Lyra."

"It's not Lyra I'll look for," Silver told us. Arceus eyed Silver cautiously as he walked towards him. "I can find Raven."

"Raven?" Ascot asked, "I didn't realise you had a bond with Raven."

"This gets weirder and weirder," Gary muttered. Silver turned to face us. He had a strangely annoyed look on his face. Suddenly he let out a sigh.

"Raven and I have the same mother," Silver told us.

"Wha?" Ascot cried.

"What?" Gary and Drew snapped, "Since when!"

"So you're brother and sister?" I asked, thinking about it. They had never been that close and they looked nothing alike. I wondered about the possibility of it when I was suddenly pulled back to reality by Silver's voice.

"No, we're not brother and sister," Silver barked. I flinched. "She doesn't know that my mother is her mother. The only reason why I know is because my mother was too soft. Raven has lived with her father for that reason. Andromeda doesn't get to see her at all."

"Andromeda?" Gary asked, "You mean the head of Johto?"

"Yeah," Silver nodded, "Ever wondered why she's in such a high ranking job?"

"Explains it," Gary muttered.

"Nothing like getting feisty with Giovanni and getting a nice comfy seat," Drew said to Gary. Silver glared at them both before he let out a defeated sigh.

"You share a bond with this girl?" Arceus asked.

"Through blood, yeah," Silver replied. Arceus nodded.

"Then you will be able to see her," Arceus said. Silver blinked a few times not knowing what to do. Paul was finally on his feet now. He walked over to Drew and helped him up. I walked over to Silver.

"I might be able to help," I offered. Silver nodded and turned to me. I took his hands in mine and closed my eyes. I could feel Silver's power radiating from him. He gripped my hands tighter before he quickly let go of them. He stumbled backwards.

"I know where they are," he told us, "But you are not going to like it."

"Let's hear it first," Gary said.

"Yeah, no matter where it is, we can beat it," Ash said, thrusting his fist forwards.

"They're at Mount Moon," Silver replied. Ash's fist fell limply at his side. Ascot made a nervous sounding noise while Drew's jaw hung open. Gary's face was frozen in a state of pure fear. Paul looked mildly surprised. I was clueless. Gary suddenly stepped forwards and slapped Ash over the head.

"Thanks for jinxing it, idiot," Gary snapped.

Things had just gone from bad to worse.

**So next time on Rocket Academy: The journey to Mount Moon. Will they get there OK or will Dawn get captured? :O Well I know, you'll have to wait until Wednesday to find out. Hehe. Until then my lovely readers. Please review!**

**RSx**


	24. Of Good Luck and Mount Moon

**OK, OK, so I'm going to be asking you people for advice. Currently I have finished writing Rocket Academy and there are only 27 chapters. I can make it 28 if is chop the 27****th**** in half but I fear you may kill me at the cliff hanger half way through the chapter (thus only one chapter). So vote on my poll on my page!**

**Thanks to: RAWR the Green Ranger, splitheart1120, foxgrl18, LeafxGreenx3, lightwolfheart, rin916, ninetailsgil94, dattebayo4321, Lynx of the Sand, Kurai Dawn, RaveOn21now22, zflame393 and AnimefangurlHellyeahXD300 for reviewing!**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Of Good Luck and Mount Moon**

"So we're going to Mt Moon?" Ash asked us as he changed into some new clothes. "The most dangerous, heavily guarded Rocket outpost in the World?"

"Yes," Gary replied. Ash and Drew looked at each other before looking at Paul. Paul was idly pulling a black jacket over a green top he was wearing.

"So what is the plan?" Drew asked, "You know we can't go walking up to the front door and say hey we've lost our friends. Can you give them back please?"

"We don't have floor plans or anything," Gary agreed, "We'll be going in blind."

"Also," Paul stated, "We don't know what sort of defence systems they have or how to get around them. We could easily trip a wire and be captured in two seconds flat."

"Not the mention this is the home of the nastiest Elites," I added, "With Pegasus being there and a host of others."

"Awh man!" Ash yelled, "This is going to be epic!"

"For sure!" Drew ageed. The two of them high fived happily as they thought about it. Gary smirked a cocky smirk while Paul looked pleasantly smug.

"This is like the ultimate test," Gary said, "And we're the best damn team in the Academy."

"And you have me," I said, putting my hand on my chest, "The best and most glamorous girl in the school."

We all laughed at this bit. We fell silent suddenly. Paul put his arm around me, pulling me in closer to him. The other three watched us with smiles on their faces.

"What ever happens," Gary said, "It's been a pleasure."

"Yeah," Ash said, "You guys have been the best friends. I couldn't ask for more."

"You guys have been fun," Paul stated, "Thanks for never letting me have a dull day."

"That's true," Drew agreed, "We've had really great times together but this is just the start. I say once we're through with this we have a huge party with dancing, food and a couple of drinks."

"Sounds cool," Gary commented, "Maybe get the girls in bikinis."

"Beach party?" Drew asked.

"Is there any other type of party," Gary replied. Slowly all eyes fell on me. I felt a little self conscious stood watching them but I smiled anyway.

"Hey Dawn," Drew said, "You really are the best best-friend's girlfriend we could ever hope to have."

"Yeah, you've helped us out so much," Gary agreed with a nod, "And don't worry about a thing. We're going to save the girls, bring down Rocket and then have hangovers for the next decade."

"Sounds great," I laughed. Silence fell once again as we stood looking at each other. We were all smiling in that odd fondly way which people did when they weren't sure on what they could do.

"Seriously though, guys," Gary said finally, "It's been a blast. Whatever happens from now onwards… If anyone should get left behind, the others can be sad. We've got to move on."

"Gary," Drew said seriously, "It's either all of us or none of us."

"Fight for each other to the bitter end," Ash yelled. Paul took my hand, linking my fingers with his. I looked up at him, smiling.

"We'll look after each other," Paul said, "Watch each other's backs."

"And come home together," I added, "And have that beach party. Who knows, maybe we could get Drew into a bikini."

"Ah," Paul said, "That polka dot one he's always wanted to have."

"Hey," Drew snapped, "Just because I sing in the shower doesn't mean you have to take the mick."

We creased into laughter once more, just in time for Ascot and Silver to walk over to us. They seemed confused to why we were laughing but didn't ask.

"It's time," Silver stated, "Arceus said Giratina can open us a portal outside the place. We leave in five minutes."

"Right," we replied. Ascot smiled happily at us.

"We all ready?" he asked. I looked around at the guys. They were wearing mainly black but with different coloured tops one depending on what legendary they were. We had no idea where the outfits had come from but they seemed to be perfect for what we needed. Like it had been pre-planned. I turned to Paul.

"I've been thinking," I said. Everyone looked at me. "A lot of things are very much… you know, pre-planned."

"What do you mean?" Silver asked.

"Well," I replied, "The fact that Paul and I are in the same lessons even though our fathers headed the Sinnoh resistance."

"That is odd," Paul muttered.

"And then the pendant that opened the Sendoff Spring," I continued pointing at Paul, "Then the clothes."

"Your Suicune book," Paul stated. I nodded at that.

"Suicune book?" Gary asked.

"It was a book I found in Ecruteak," I explained, "And it was a story about a girl who goes to find Suicune and eventually finds it on… Mount Moon…"

"Everything's happening for a reason," Drew muttered.

"I have to admit," Silver said, "I would have never found these guys if I didn't happen to come across their files."

"You came across them?" Gary asked.

"I saw Apollo one day," Silver replied, "And they were on his desk."

"Weird," Gary commented.

"Celebi," Paul stated.

"You mean, Leaf?" Gary asked.

"Oh my Arceus," I gasped, "The day at the lake. That was… That was Leaf, future Leaf. When she gave you that."

I pointed at Paul's chest where the pendant was hidden. He thought about it for a few seconds before he nodded slowly.

"It was," he agreed, "She told us not to mention it to any one, not even her."

"So we create this?" I asked, "So she must have done other stuff two."

"Like the four of you in the same apartment," Gary added, "That's something more than good luck."

"We've been manipulated," Drew said, "By ourselves."

"My brain hurts," Ash moaned rubbing his head. I had to agree with Ash, my head hurt slightly as well.

"Oh Mew," Drew gasped, "How I met May. Someone stole my book and I had to go back to the class room to find it. I remember putting it in my bag and everything and then it was gone. On my way back to the classroom I walked into May."

"This is getting far too creepy," Ascot muttered.

"You think that's weird," Gary said, paling suddenly, "I think I saw future Leaf before I met the proper Leaf."

"What?" Drew snapped, "How is that possible?"

"She was wearing a pink skirt and a blue tank top," Gary said, "With this white hat."

"That's who we saw too," Paul said.

"I thought she looked out of place. She walked clean right into me, laughing about something," Gary explained.

"When?" Silver asked.

"About a year before I was taken to the Academy," Gary said paling still. There was a very still silence that followed as we each looked at each other with wide eyes. Paul looked around.

"Dad," he yelled. He walked off to find his dad while we stood there, drinking in this information. Paul returned a few minutes later with his father behind him.

"What's wrong?" the older Shinji asked.

"Have you ever seen a girl with brown hair, wearing a pink skirt and a blue tank top with a weird white hat?" Paul asked.

"I've seen a lot of things during my time," his father snapped, "How can I remember…"

"Uh oh," Ash said, "Now my brain is going to really hurt, isn't it?"

"She was in Sandgem Town when the news of Rocket taking over Kanto came through," Paul's dad explained, "She looked at me and said 'I hear some guy in Twinleaf is looking for people to join the resistance'."

"And you went to see if she was correct?" Silver asked. Paul's father nodded slowly.

"So… We make everything happen," Paul stated, "Leaf goes back in time and plants these things for us so it happens."

"I guess so," Gary replied.

"Nothing happens by chance," Silver said, "Everything has a reason."

"Alright," Ash cheered suddenly, "If Leaf manages to go back in time then it only means one thing."

"And that is?" Gary asked.

"We win!" Ash yelled, "We beat Rocket."

"I suppose you could look at it that way," Gary replied.

"Either way," Silver said, glancing at his watch, "We can't sit here and wait for it to happen by itself. We leave now."

"Right," we nodded. Paul's dad stopped us.

"Now, I want you all to be careful," he told us seriously, "You're all still kids and you shouldn't be the ones doing this. So I'm telling you all to get back here safe and sound."

"Roger," we replied. Paul's dad put a hand on his son's shoulder, giving him a smile.

"Good luck," he muttered before we walked away.

We walked back towards Arceus who was sat beside Giratina. We gathered round the two legendaries, waiting for their instruction.

"We can send you to Mount Moon," Arceus told us, "But this is the only thing we will help you with, this time."

"OK," Gary and Drew said with a nod. A large portal opened in front of us. I slipped my hand into Paul's. He looked at me.

"Good luck," Arceus said, "And Suicune."

I looked at Arceus, tilting my head to the side.

"You will know what you should do when the time comes," Arceus said. I watched him carefully for a few seconds. "Now good bye all of you. We shall not meet again."

"Wait," I said, pulling Paul back with me slightly. The others went ahead of us. Arceus watched me pull back.

"I am sorry," he stated before a blast of energy knocked us back into the portal. I screamed as I fell through the portal and landed on cold grass on the other side. Paul landed beside me. He looked slightly annoyed as he got to his feet. I sat up staring at where the portal had been. It had disappeared by now.

"What did he mean?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Paul replied, "But let's go."

Silver was already a way away from us. He was looking at the rather large white building in the distance. It was nestled within a valley. There were four large walls with what looked like battlements on each corner. In the centre was a large dome that was made out of glass.

"Arecus couldn't drop us in the place?" Drew moaned.

"Too risky," Silver replied, "If we go round the east side then we should be able to get in without too much trouble."

"How would you know?" Gary asked as he went and stood by Silver. Silver gave a dark chuckle.

"I have tried to blow this building up more than once you know," Silver replied. Gary and Drew exchanged worried looks before they shrugged. "We should move soon. They do tend to patrol the area."

"Too late there, red."

We froze and slowly turned round to find that Celeste was stood watching us from the hillside. She had her hands on her hips and her head titled to the side. She was wearing a plain white dress with white ankle boots. Her hair was up in a bun. Her eyes shone with mischief.

"Celeste," Ascot said, taking a step forwards, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you guys," she replied. There was something different about her that I couldn't put my finger on. She gave a little giggle before she turned around. "Follow me and I can let you in."

"And why should we trust you?" Gary asked. Celeste winked at him.

"Because I am your friend," she replied, "And you'll probably get killed on the way in."

"Dawn?" Drew said, "Can we trust her?"

"Yeah," I replied after a few seconds to think. I gave Celeste a nod. She smiled at me.

"Follow me boys," she said as she walked away, "You'll be thanking me later."

I followed her with my hands behind my back, Paul not far behind me. The other guys followed us, dragging their feet a little. We walked round the mountain until we came across a small cave. Celeste pointed to it.

"A secret entrance?" Silver asked, pushing to the front. He smirked at Celeste. "I'm impressed."

"Don't thank me, Silver," Celeste told him, "Thank your mother when you see her."

"She did this?" Silver said as he walked up to the entrance and slipped into darkness beyond.

"Yeah," Celeste said, "Viva la revolution, red."

**So they're going to get into Mount Moon. But what is Celeste doing? Is she going to help them or lead them to certain doooooom? Muhahaha!**

**Anyway, next update Sunday. Don't forget the poll or to review! :D**

**RSx**


	25. Of Tunnels and Rescues

**OK, so the last chapter was a bit confusing but hopefully this should make up for it :) **

**Thanks to spliheart1120, Rawrazor, Kurai Dawn, Foxgrl18, LeafxGreenx3, Moonfur10, ninetailsgirl94, zflame393, dattebayo4321, Lightwolfheart, Lynx of the Sand, LuckyTigger, GlitchGirl123 and RaveOn21now22.**

**Just a quick note to RaveOn21now22: Please don't think about the physics behind the time travel. I did that when the plot came to me and I had to give up writing the story for two weeks 'cos I had that big a headache T_T**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Of Tunnels and Rescues**

We walked down a dark rock tunnel that pointed us vaguely in the direction of the base. I walked behind Paul with my hand in his. We sent Ash up at the front to make sure there were no loose rocks or whatever. He occasionally tripped over but not too often.

"So what are you doing here?" Gary asked Celeste.

"I was approached by Andromeda a few months ago," Celeste explained, "She told me that she had seen a girl who told her to dig a tunnel from Mount Moon so that people can get into the base. She said that Raven was in trouble and so was Silver. So Andromeda used her Pokémon to dig out this tunnel for her. She said I was supposed to lead you through the tunnel."

"Leaf," Gary muttered.

"And then what?" Drew asked, "What do you do after that?"

"I'm not sure," Celeste replied, "But I just want to help stop the world from ending. Andromeda should be waiting for us at the end of the tunnel."

"Just her? No mass of grunts?" Drew said. Celeste shook her head.

"Just Andromeda," Celeste promised. Drew nodded. Paul glanced back at me.

"You look a little distracted," Paul said. I shook my head. "Don't linger on what Arceus said."

"There was something in his tone," I explained, "That makes me wonder… Do we actually win this? And at what cost?"

"Don't think about it," Paul said, "What will happen will happen."

"But-"

"Do you trust me?" Paul asked. I nodded. "Then don't worry."

"Why do you sound like you know more than you do?" I asked. Paul shrugged.

"I don't," Paul replied, "I'm just focusing on getting out of here alive."

"I guess you're right," I agreed. I let out a sigh.

"Dawn," Paul said, "When we get out of here… There's a shop in Veilstone that sells the nicest rings."

"Rings?" I asked. Paul nodded.

"You can pick it yourself," Paul went on. I stopped dead in my tracks. Paul slipped from my grasp as he continued to walk forwards. He stopped turned around to look at me.

"Hey, Dawn," Drew snapped as he walked into me, "What's going on?"

"Did you just… propose?" I asked Paul, ignoring Drew for the minute. Paul nodded slowly.

"Who's proposed?" Ash asked from the front of the group. Everyone had stopped to listen in now.

"Drew to Gary," Silver replied, "Who do you think?"

Paul and I were staring at each other. Finally Paul closed his eyes.

"Forget it," he said. He continued walking forwards. I ran up to him and hugged him from behind. I felt tears begin to roll down my cheeks.

"Can it be a pink stone?" I choked out, "On white gold?"

"Sure," Paul said, letting out a soft breath.

"I thought you weren't stupid enough to ask me after two months of dating," I said as I pulled away from him. He turned back round so he was looking at me. I smiled at him and nodded. "Of course. I look forwards to picking out rings with you."

"OK," Silver said, "Well that was soppy. Now I'm down to zero men."

"Oh, shut up," Paul snapped. I giggled as Silver rolled his eyes and continued to walk onwards.

"I'm only telling you the truth," Silver said.

"Geez, who knew that Paul could be so romantic?" Drew commented.

We walked to the end of the tunnel without much trouble. Finally we reached the end. It looked like a metal door with a wheel in the centre of it. Silver was the one to turn the wheel until the door unlocked but Celeste was the first to emerge. She checked around before telling us to come out. I shielded my eyes slightly as we entered a brightly lit room. The walls were white. The lights were bright. I cringed at the intensity of it all.

"So we're inside?" Gary asked. Celeste nodded. Gary punched his hand with his fist before he walked across the room. As my eyes adjusted, I could see we were in an office of some kind. There were shelves on the wall and a large desk with a computer and other officey things near the back wall. Gary had jumped into a large chair and was frantically typing on the keyboard of the computer. I glanced behind me as Silver and Ash closed the door we had just come through. It was cleverly disguised as a filling cabinet.

"Oak," Paul said as he marched over to Gary and peered over his shoulder, "What have you got?"

"I can't access," Gary replied, "Something about access codes."

"Access codes?" Drew asked, "Why didn't you say so?"

The green haired boy walked cockily towards the table. He brushed Gary and Paul out of the way before typing quickly on the keyboard. After a few seconds Drew straightened up and walked towards Ash and Silver. Gary nodded before hacking into the system.

"They're in the sub basement," Gary stated.

"Only the hardest room to get into," Celeste said, "It's teamed with grunts and you need to have level five security to even get into the second elevator."

Ash and Silver looked at each other before they looked at Ascot. Ascot looked like he was thinking about something but in the end he shook his head.

"Never mind," he said.

"Isn't there another route?" Drew asked Celeste, "Like another secret tunnel?"

"Uh uh," Celeste replied, "I don't even know what's down there."

"It's the heart of Rocket," Ascot stated, "It's where everything started. It's a high security place where Elite member Leo lives."

"Leo?" Gary asked. He typed something and then looked at the screen. "I've heard about him. He's a scientist. He used to work with my Grandfather back in the day."

"What did he study?" Silver asked.

"Legendary Pokémon," Gary replied, "He was insane though."

"Then he's definitely a Rocket," Silver muttered, "Right, we need a plan. Gary, Drew, see if you two can get us to the sub basement. Ascot, Celeste, tell us everything you know about this building. Dawn, get some rest."

"Why me?" I asked, puffing out my cheeks.

"I don't want you shorting out on me," Silver replied. I walked over to the opposite side of the room before I sat down on the floor. Stupid Silver and his stupid plans. I watched as the others talked about getting down to the sub basement. I idly waited for them to call me over.

"_Dawn_," I froze. That was Raven's voice. I made my thoughts go blank. I'm not here, I'm not here. "_Saying you're not there doesn't make you invisible_."

"_Sorry_," I thought.

"_You guys coming for us anytime soon? My head's beginning to hurt_," Raven said.

"_What are they doing to you?_" I asked. I had a nagging thought in the back of my head that told me not to talk to Raven. She could have easily been brainwashed into luring me into a false sense of security so that she could find me.

"_The whacko scientist has gone for a bit, I can talk freely without anyone picking up on it_," Raven explained, "_They've got us hooked up to these machines. I can't do anything about them. I can't break free of my prison. May, Misty and Leaf are OK. Lyra's struggling a bit. You bumped into Wyre I see._"

"_Yeah_," I said.

"_I've told my mother you're here,_" Raven stated, "_I have to go now but she will be with you shortly._"

"_Keep alive_," I told her. Then her voice faded into silence. I got to my feet. Drew glanced up at me from the computer.

"Something wrong, Dawn?" he asked. I shook my head. I watched the door for a few seconds before Paul caught my gaze. He silenced all chatter in the room. We waited for a few minutes. Silver nodded suddenly and we all scrambled into hiding places.

The door swung open a few seconds later. A woman with blonde hair walked through the door. She was wearing a high waist pencil skirt with a military style top. It had the letter R over her left breast with brass buttons running up the top, slightly to the left. She closed the door behind her before she looked round at us.

"Really," she said, "Hiding behind the table?"

"You didn't really design this place for hiding in," Silver said as he slipped out of his hiding place. "Andromeda."

"Andromeda? So formal," Andromeda said, "Don't I get a mummy?"

"No," Silver stated while Drew and Gary sniggered. We got out of our hiding places and crowded round the woman. She looked at us all before she smiled.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," she greeted us, "I'm Silver's and Raven's mother. How do you do?"

"You're a little too nice to be an Elite," Drew commented.

"It's a little odd," Gary agreed. Andromeda shrugged slightly.

"When I heard that my little girl and my son were going to be in danger in the future, I couldn't bare it," Andromeda explained, "I may be a Rocket but I'm a mother too and being a mother is a pain. You get these weird emotions that make you think about others more than yourself. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"If you say so," Ash said, shrugging towards the other guys like he had no clue about what Andromeda was saying.

"I can get you to the sub basement," she told us, "But you'll have to get yourselves out."

"No problem," Ash said confidently, "We're the best at Rocket Academy. We can handle it no problem."

"Piece of cake," Drew remarked, flicking his hair.

"And we'll have the girls to help out," Ascot added, smiling. Andromeda smiled and nodded slowly.

"Now," she said as she walked over to another filing cabinet which was next to the one which disguised the secret passage. She opened a draw and pulled out some clothes for us. They looked like proper grunt clothes. She threw the clothes at the boys before she opened another draw, getting more clothes. Finally she passed me some clothes. I looked at them and then at the boys. I blushed to find that Ash, Gary, Drew and Ascot were already stripping down. I glanced at Paul who seemed to be understanding my thoughts. Silver, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to his surroundings. He was eying up the clothes with a strange expression on his face. It was almost like he was admiring them or something. Paul walked over to me. He turned away from me, shielding me from the other guys. Celeste seemed to catch on and she jumped next to Paul so that I had more room to change.

"Does this mean I get to see you without your top on?" Celeste asked Paul with a coy smile on her face.

"I'm definitely changing behind Dawn now," Paul replied. Celeste laughed.

"You have to get used to her undressing for when you two get married," she teased him.

"She'll have to get used to me too," Paul said. I paused as I looked at the two of them.

"Does she blush when you take off your clothes?" Celeste asked.

"What have you two being doing while you've been away?" Drew asked, sounding very shocked.

"N-nothing!" I yelled back at him. Gary and Drew nudged each other.

"Oh yeah," Gary said, "I get it. 'Nothing'."

"Shut up," I stammered.

"Real good way to convince them, Dawn," Celeste commented.

"Leave her alone," Paul told his friends, "She can hurt you if you continue to annoy her."

"That's true," Ash said. I walked out from behind Paul wearing the female grunt suit. It was weird and tight. It was a tight black sweater with R in red on the chest with a tight, square cut skirt that was about mid thigh in length. High black boots came to my knees and wrist length black gloves. There was also a hat in a similar style to my raid uniform hat. I was going to have trouble moving in it. I glanced at the guys to see their eyes practically jumping out of their heads. I looked at them. Even Silver seemed to be gawking at me. I wasn't surprised to see Gary, Drew and, to some extent, Ascot looking at me with wide eyes. Ash's mouth was open. I glanced at Paul to see him slightly surprised at my attire.

"Wow," Celeste said, "I don't know about you but I'm going to have a hard time keeping my hands off of you."

"What?" I asked. I found that I had an echo as most of the boy's asked Celeste this too. Celeste looked over at them, smiling pleasantly.

"You… like girls?" Gary said, after several attempts.

"Duh," Celeste snapped, "I am a charmer by nature but notice how I never took it too far?"

"You like girls?" Ash blurted.

"Yes, Ash," Celeste replied in a bored sort of tone, "Why do you think I went to an all girls school before the Academy. I wanted to check out the girls."

"OK," Silver said, "Moving on. Paul get dressed."

"No arguments there," Paul said before he pulled off his clothes. I averted my eyes, going slightly red as Paul changed beside me. I only looked round when I heard Celeste yelp.

"Ow," she cried, "What was that for, Paul?"

"Stop checking out my fiancé," Paul replied. I put my hand over my mouth before I began laughing loudly. Celeste smirked at me.

"Well," she said, "I'm glad someone isn't weird with this."

"I guess this makes you more manlier than the guys now," I said. Celeste nodded.

"I guess so," Celeste agreed, "Because unlike them, Paul not included, I can actually pick up women and keep them."

"Oh no," Gary roared, "That is so untrue!"

I fell into giggles once more as Celeste began an argument with Drew, Gary and Ascot. Silver watched them in an unimpressed sort of way. Ash looked rather confused.

"I thought girls were supposed to like guys," Ash murmured. Silver patted the confused lad on the back.

"You'll understand one day," Silver told him.

~R~

We walked down a bright corridor, walking like grunts. People passed us by wearing identical clothes to us. We blended in perfectly. I walked beside Paul. He was looking straight ahead, ignoring everything. I could see that he'd slipped into mission mode.

We stopped at an elevator. Andromeda pulled out a card from her pocket and scanned it under a red laser. The doors opened with a ding noise. We squeezed into the elevator and began out descent down. None of us spoke as we went down and down, deeper into the facility. I felt butterflies bubbling in my stomach. I wanted to take Paul's hand in mine but I knew I couldn't.

The elevator stopped. The doors opened and we poured out of the small space in a professional sort of way. Andromeda led us to another elevator not too far away. She scanned her card once more and the doors opened.

"What are you doing?" came a cold, harsh voice. All of us froze, even Andromeda. We looked to see a man with combed back white hair with a small moustache and long thin beard looking at us. Andromeda laughed.

"Scorpio," she said, "It's nothing really. Giovanni wants some extra security downstairs. I did show you the paperwork this morning."

"I did," Scorpio agreed, "But when I phoned Giovanni he said he requested no such thing."

"Oh," Andromeda said, "Well… Go."

"Go?" Scorpio asked. Andromeda launched herself at Scorpio, knocking him backwards. He fought against her. Celeste turned to us as red lights began to flash and sirens began to ring.

"Go down in the elevator," she told us, "And hurry."

"Wait!" I yelled as she ran over to help Andromeda. Paul pulled me into the elevator where the other guys had already shuffled into. The doors closed slowly, leaving me with the final image of Scorpio pointing a gun at Celeste. The doors closed before I could see anything else but the shot afterwards told me of her fate instantly. Paul hugged me tightly as I began to cry. I was given a few minute to compose myself as the lift went deeper into the depths. I dried my eyes and pulled away from Paul. I had to be ready otherwise I might die too.

"Ready," Silver ordered. The guys nodded. "On my order."

The elevator slowly came to a stop. It dinged and the doors slowly slid open.

"Go!" Silver ordered. We sprang out of the small space, attacking ten or so grunts that were already waiting for us. I turned to the elevator and froze it solid before it could move. Next I turned and froze a door which looked like it may have been stairs. No body would be getting through to us.

I turned back to the boys to find that they had knocked out all of the grunts without much difficulty. We nodded at each other before we ran down the hallway. We were definitely in the right place. There was only one door on the corridor. That had to be it.

We flew through the door to find ourselves in a bright lab.

Raven, Lyra, Misty, May and Leaf were lying on tables, strapped to them by various things. I looked around in horror to see that they weren't moving.

"So," a voice from behind us said, "You finally made it."

We looked round to see a weird looking man wearing a lab coat. He was short with wild orange hair. It looked like a mane. He wore glasses too and a cruel smirk.

"I've been looking forwards to this day," he said, "Finally, it all falls into place."

"You're Leo," Gary stated, "I recognise you."

"That's true, I am Leo," the man said, "Head of Rocket research and soon the ruler of the entire world."

He gave a loud evil laugh.

"Now for you, Suicune," he went on. We readied ourselves for an attack. "First I'll get rid of your friends and then I'll finally have everything I need."

"Because someone has to ask it: what are you planning?" Gary asked. Leo let out laugh.

"It's simple really," Leo said, "I am going to use the Legendaries to bring the darkness into this world. When the darkness comes here I shall rule the world with nothing to stop me! Think of it. Everything dark, everything gloomy with each Pokémon and human as my personal slave. The darkness will mean that even I would control Arceus! I'd control the world!"

He fell into manic laughter like only a mad scientist could.

"Dude," Drew said, "You are totally insane."

Leo clicked his fingers loudly. The lights dimmed and two figures emerged from the floor. I gasped. I had never seen a Pokémon like it before. It was human shaped but a whitey-purple colour. It had rounded horns on its head, a long purple tail and long legs.

"Mew Two," Ascot said, "Oh dear."

"What's a Mew Two?" Gary asked.

"It's like a Mew but twice as good," Ascot replied.

"Oh," Ash said, "That's bad."

"No kidding," Gary remarked.

"Let's go," Silver ordered. Ascot nodded. He suddenly flew up into the air. He seemed alarmed by this at first until he realised this was he Pokémon powers working.

"So cool," he said. He soon snapped out of it. Gary and Drew smirked while Ash fist pumped the air.

"Let's go," Gary yelled, "Go… Jirachi!"

Nothing happened. Paul and I looked at Gary for a few seconds like he was an idiot. He froze before his arms fell to his side.

"It's not as easy as I thought," he muttered.

"Try saying an attack, genius," Paul snapped. Gary perked up.

"OK then," Gary said, "Er… What does Jirachi know?"

"Dragon Pulse," Ascot yelled. A turquoise ball appeared in Ascto's hand. He threw it at one of the Mew Twos.

"Swift?" Gary said. Stars erupted from his hands. They shot towards the other Mew Two, hitting it dead on. Gary and Ascot gave a cheer, but it wasn't over yet. The Mew Twos were damaged but still standing.

"Hey," Ascot said to Gary, "Let's do a combination."

"Sure," Gary agreed.

"Dragon Pulse."

"Swift."

The two attacks flew towards each other. They morphed into a glowing golden ball. We stood in amazement at the power of it.

"Psychic," both Gary and Ascot yelled. The ball was hit by two beams of multi-coloured light. It shot towards the Mew Two's causing smoke to arise upon impact. The guys cheered. Ascot floated to the ground and stood haughtily on the spot. Leo looked over at the boys before smirking.

"You'll have to do better than that," Leo told them. The smoke cleared. The Pokémon were still standing.

"Again," Gary ordered.

"Dragon pulse!"

"Swift."

Nothing happened.

"Oh no," Gary said, "We must have used the powers up."

"Not good," Ascot agreed. Silver raised his hand to attack but he stopped as he heard someone else shout.

"Now!"

I glanced over towards the girls. They opened their eyes at the same time. Misty pointed and shot a beam of lightening towards May, setting her free from her restraints. May in turn released both Raven and Leaf with an ember attack. Leaf used Razor Leaf to cut Lyra free while Raven used Psychic to free Misty. The five of them jumped off their tables ready to fight.

"How can this be?" Leo asked. He fell to the floor in fear, scrambling backwards in fear.

"Now, Fire Blast!" Lyra ordered. Both she and May sent out powerful fire attacks.

"Shock wave," Misty said, releasing thunder bolts. The two attacks combined.

"And Psybeam!" Raven said, shooting her beam into the attack. It glowed white at it hit the Mew Twos. The two Pokémon collapsed on the floor, slightly blackened by the attack.

"Guys!" I yelled running towards them. I embraced Leaf first. Misty and May jumped on me, hugging me tightly. Raven joined in the group hug too. Lyra just watched from the sidelines, smiling at us.

"Hey, Silver," she greeted the red head, "Took your time."

"So sorry," Silver replied sarcastically. We laughed at them. But our laughter was cut short.

"Hey," Ascot yelped suddenly. We turned to look at him and Gary. They seemed to be… disintegrating.

"What's going on!" Gary yelled.

"Gary!" Leaf cried rushing forwards to help her boyfriend. She held his hand tightly. "Don't worry. We're going to help you."

"Ah," Ascot said as his knees disappeared. Raven rushed forwards. She looked around at the two of them at a loss of what to do.

"There's nothing we can do," she stated simply. My eyes widened as I remembered something.

"Arceus said…" I stammered.

"Once they had used up their powers, they would disappear," Silver finished for me.

"So that's what he meant," Gary said.

"No way!" Ash yelled, "That's not right! Arceus said he'd help us right?"

"He did tell us this would happen," Paul stated, "I don't think we can do anything to stop it now."

"What?" Drew asked, "No. No this can't be!"

I was glued to the floor, like the others were. We could only watch as Ascot and Gary faded away bit by bit. Ascot was talking softly to Raven as if nothing was happening. She was smiling at him, tears in her eyes. My eyes fell onto Gary and Leaf.

"Gary, hold on," Leaf was saying to Gary as tears streamed down her face. Gary seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of fading away. He was watching as his legs disappeared with a blank look on his face. He glanced at Leaf as she began to sniffle loudly beside him. He cupped her chin with his hand.

"Listen," he said, "You'll find how to fix this. Don't worry. I'll be waiting."

"Gary," Leaf cried, "I've only just got you back."

"I know," Gary said, "But you've got to continue on your own now. I'll be fine. I'll be chilling until you get me back."

"Promise you'll come back?" Leaf asked. Gary nodded. He leant into her and kissed her cheek gently before he totally disappeared. Leaf let out a scream as he disappeared. She crumbled to her knees, sobbing violently into her hands. Misty and May ran to comfort her. She latched onto Misty instantly, crying into the orange haired girl's shoulder. I glanced at Raven and Ascot. They were holding hands right until the last second. Only when Ascot had gone did Raven let the tears slide down her face. She quickly brushed them away.

"We need to stop Leo," she told us. I looked round the room to see that Leo had scurried away while we were preoccupied. "He's got the feathers and the crystal bell. He's going to use them to open the distortion world right here."

"And that will bring the darkness?" Paul asked.

"Yes," Raven said, "He'll use them items to control the other Legendaries. If he controls Giratina then the distortion world is his. Then nothing will be able to stop him."

"We need to find him," Silver agreed.

"No!" Leaf yelled, "What if you all disappear like Gary did? What can we do then?"

Misty patted Leaf's back in a comforting sort of way.

"I don't want to do it!" Leaf cried. I walked over to Leaf and knelt down beside her.

"Leaf," I said in a gentle tone. Slowly she looked at me, eyes filled with tears. "I know it's scary but we need to do this. If we lose then Gary will never come back. So we need to fight. Is that OK?"

"OK," Leaf agreed with a nod of the head. She wiped her tears away. She stood up bravely and nodded again. "Let's do this."

"It looks like we won't have to wait long," Drew said, looking over his shoulder. More Mew Twos were coming our way.

Drew and Ash stepped forwards.

"What ever happens," Drew said, "I'll love you always, May."

"Drew," May said.

"You're the best, Mist," Ash told Misty. He looked at her and gave her a goofy smile. "Let me handle this OK? I know I can win this one."

"But Ash…" Misty said. She couldn't continue. Ash nodded once and she nodded back at him. He turned back towards the Mew Twos.

"You should go," Silver told us as he walked forwards, "You go and find Leo and stop him at any cost."

"Silver," Lyra said but she was cut off by a glare from Silver. She fell silent.

"Paul," Silver said. Paul nodded. He looked at me.

"Keep safe," he told me. He took my hand in his. "I'm coming back. Don't worry."

"Be careful," I warned him. He nodded before he leant in to kiss me. We kissed briefly before Paul tore away and joined his comrades a few metres away. I stood back in horror as it suddenly dawned on me.

This could be the last time I ever saw Paul…

**Voting on my poll finishes on Tuesday so don't forget to vote. Also, I have put up a picture on my blog which is the whole reason the plot came to life so go check it out! Also, I'm uploading a 'lost chapter' on my blog. I did write it but then I got rid of it so you want to know how Ursula reacted to the news of Paul and Dawn dating, go check it out. The link is on my profile :) **

**I feel like I'm telling you to do way too much but don't forget to review.**

**Til Wednesday!**

**RSx**


	26. Of Death and Life

**You people voted for one chapter so I've given you one chapter. I feel ever so nervous for posting this since this is really the last chapter of Rocket Academy T_T The next is an epilogue. **

**Thank you so much to Lynx of the Sand, splitheart1120, rin916, Foxgrl18, LeafxGreenx3, Lucky Tigger, zflame393, dattebayo4321, Lightwolfheart, Storm Dryu and ninetailsgirl 94 for reviewing.**

**Also, I fear that I may get mobbed in this chapter, but I'll leave you to read for now.**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Of Death and Life**

"_Hi," a girl greeted me. She had long brown hair to her shoulders and was wearing the school uniform. She looked friendly with her green eyes and happy smile on her face. I couldn't resist smiling back. "I'm Leaf."_

"_I'm Dawn, nice to meet you," I said. The two of us giggled at each other for a few seconds. We stopped as two more girls walked into the room. There was another brunette and an orange haired girl. They looked at the two of us and waved._

"_Hey, I think we're living here this year," the brunette said, "I'm May."_

"_And I'm Misty," the other girl said._

"_I'm Leaf," Leaf greeted._

"_I'm Dawn," I said. The four of us looked at each other, each with smiles on our faces._

"_So, I guess we'll get to know each other a lot over the next few years," Misty said, "I hope we can live together peacefully."_

"_Yeah," Leaf agreed, "We're going to be the best of friends, I can feel it."_

"_I suppose we should assign rooms," May suggested._

"_I'll share with Dawn," Leaf said._

"_So that leaves you and me, May," Misty said. _

"_Sounds great. We can always rotate if we want too," May agreed._

"_Or sleep in the living room so we can chatter," I said. The girls nodded. It felt weird coming into a new school after I'd been separated from all the others. Kenny and Barry used to be the ones I hung out with but I suppose times change. I looked at my new three friends._

"_So who is up for chocolate ice cream?" May asked as she walked towards the door._

"_Sounds awesome!" Leaf cheered. Misty giggled and followed behind Leaf. I pause before I walked after them. Things weren't going to be as bad as I thought they would._

We ran down the halls. Lyra was leading the way for some reason. I didn't want to argue with her and the way Raven was acting, I think that was a very good idea. May and Misty ran a head of Leaf and I. Leaf still hade tears in her eyes. Seeing Gary disappear like that must have been traumatic for her. No matter how strong she was, it had to be hurting her.

We turned a few corners, hot on the trail of Leo. He'd taken off somewhere and Lyra seemed to have locked onto him. I didn't ask, I just went with it. It was best to in these circumstances. I didn't want to cause a problem or become the leader. Lyra was just the person to lead us. She was our Silver, I guessed.

My mind flickered back onto Paul for a few seconds. My heart ached, tears threatened to pour and my legs twitched like they wanted to run back to him. Leaf glanced at me.

"He's going to be OK," she told me, "And when we're through with this, I'm getting Gary back."

I nodded once. She was right, I couldn't give up now. If Paul was willing to put his life on the line then I had too. I gazed in front of me. I was focused. I could do anything I wanted.

"_Hey, watch it," a voice grumbled at me. It sounded grumpy and annoyed. I turned round to apologise but stopped myself. I was looking at a very moody guy with purple hair. I forced a smile._

"_Sorry," I muttered._

"_Watch where you're going next time, Troublesome," he told me as he walked away from me. I fumed._

"_My name is Dawn," I snapped._

"_I don't care," he replied. My eyes narrowed at him._

"_Well, what if I were to call you… Prune head, how would that make you feel?" I asked._

"_Even more uninterested," he told me. I looked him up and down. He was the cool sort of guy with the bad boy attitude. _

"_Fine then, Mr Grumpy," I said, "Have it your way."_

_I walked off with my head held high… Then I walked into someone else. I took us both out. I landed on the floor on my bum with my knees together. The other person had landed flat on their face with their bum in the air. He had brown eyes and black, messy hair._

"_Smooth, Troublesome," Mr Grumpy commented, "Real smooth."_

_I shot a glare at Mr Grumpy before I looked at the person I had just walked into._

"_Sorry about that," I said. The guy sat up, rubbing his head._

"_No problem," he replied, "I'm always walking into things."_

"_I feel bad for knocking you over," I said but the guy just waved me off._

"_It's no big deal," the guy said._

"_Hey, Ashy-boy," a voice called from down the hall, "What are you doing now?"_

_I recognised that voice before I saw who it was. It was Gary, the school's play boy. He had brown spiky hair and a smooth sounding voice. I quickly got to my feet. Please let me escape this guy. Please oh please._

"_Hey good looking," Gary said, "I'm Gary. What's your name, beautiful?"_

"_I hope to Arcues that you're talking to her and not me," Paul deadpanned._

Lyra stopped us mid run as we came across a block door. I eyed it carefully as Raven did a psychic scan of the room beyond.

"He's in there," Raven told us.

"Right," Lyra said with a nod, "First we knock down the door and then we stop him. Can we handle that?"

"Sure," the rest of us said.

"Alright then," Lyra said, "One. Two… Three!"

Misty sent out an electrical attack at the door. It sparked a little before it opened of it own accord. We stormed into the room to find that we were on a balcony over looking a reactor of some kind. I looked round the room quickly and soon spotted Leo round the other side of the reactor.

"Stop!" May yelled, obviously spotting Leo, "Whatever it is you're doing!"

Leo slowly turned round, a creepy smile on his face. He walked slowly round the reactor so that he could see us. He titled his head to one side, creepy smile still in place.

"So you came," he stated, "I knew you would."

"Of course we would," May snapped, "You're a mad evil man!"

"I know how everything is going to turn out," Leo said. We paused for a few seconds. "I know that Misty is wondering if she can shock me from where she is. Lyra is thinking about sending a fire attack to blow up the reactor. Leaf is thinking about her boyfriend. How sad he's dead."

"He's not dead!" Leaf yelled.

"He lied," Leo said.

"Wait," Raven said, stepping forwards, "How did you know all that?"

Leo gave a cruel laugh for a few seconds.

"You girls have no idea what you are messing with," Leo told us, "I found a Mew fossil long ago. Using the technology I recreated the Mew and put it inside my own body. I, girls, am a hybrid just like you are!"

He let out a horrible laugh as the rest of us paled slightly. No easy to beat old man. Great just great. As the information settled itself in my head, I began to feel sick. He fused himself with a Mew? What happened to the Mew?

"It's in here," Leo seemed to reply to me. He tapped his head a few times. I wondered if he could stop that for a brief second before I rolled my eyes. Probably not.

"Now all I need is Celebi," Leo said. Something grabbed Leaf. She kicked and screamed as she was lifted through the air by a hue of purple. I recognised the attack instantly. Leo was using Confusion.

"Water Pulse!" I yelled before anyone else could react. I aimed for Leo. He jumped out of the way to avoid the attack but he also dropped Leaf. Lyra quickly jumped into action. She jumped into the air and flew quickly towards Leaf, catching her easily. However, Leo seemed to recover just as quick and sent them both crashing backwards with another Psychic attack.

"Very gutsy, Dawn," Leo said, "Don't think, just do. How very clever."

"What should we do?" Misty asked as Lyra and Leaf got to their feet. Lyra winced as she looked at her hand. There was a deep graze in her palm.

"We can't beat someone who knows what we're going to do," she said. Raven nodded.

"Protect Leaf," May told us, "Whatever he wants with her can't be good."

"I want her to take me back in time," Leo told us, "Back to the day when Rocket took over Johto and then the world!"

"Why?" May asked.

"So I can lead the attack and I can rule it all!" Leo began laughing. He was clearly insane but I didn't want to dwell on that thought just in case he took offence. Instead I looked over at Raven who just shrugged. "Now to end it all!"

Leaf yelped once again as she was lifted into the air. She zoomed across the room faster than before.

"Leaf!" Misty yelled.

"Whatever you do, don't use your powers!" May shouted. We rushed towards Leo. I watched as she was placed on the top of the reactor. Clamped held her feet in place. She tried to break herself free but it was no use.

"Give her back!" Lyra yelled. She flew in for an attack.

"Lyra, no!" Raven yelled. Leo launched a powerful psychic attack at Lyra. Raven jumped in front of her and used her own powers to shield them both. They shot to the floor. Raven was unconscious while Lyra was nursing her ankle.

"Aurora Beam!" I yelled. Leo braced himself for the attack but I made the floor under his feet freeze instead. He slipped and crashed to the floor. Misty and May charged up for an attack. They fired a Flamethrower-Thunder combo at Leo. It hit him dead on. He was knocked back into the wall. His lab coat was on fire at the bottom. He looked around, pain showing on his facial expression. However his pain melted away as he saw a big red button beside him. He punched it.

"OK," May said, "We should have probably looked for the big red button before we sent him flying towards it."

Leaf let out a scream. We looked up at her. She was glowing green. The reactor was coming to life. A strange green orb was growing from the reactor. It slowly began to spread towards us.

"What is this?" Misty asked.

"A time bubble," Leo replied. He stood up straight, wiping a little bit of blood from his mouth before he put out the flame on his lab coat. "In a few moments we'll be in the past."

I heard footsteps. I turned to the door to see Paul, Silver, Ash and Drew running towards the room. They paid no attention to the green bubble and ran straight towards us.

"Update," Silver demanded.

"We're screwed," Lyra replied. I sweat-dropped. Could she have been so pessimistic about this? Ash and Drew ran over to Misty and May respectively. Paul was staring up at Leaf as he ran over to me.

"What's he doing?" Paul asked.

"We're going into the past," I told him.

"Great," he remarked. The bubble, by now, had filled the entire room. It glowed for a few seconds before it disappeared. Leo let out another one of his manic laughs. We looked at him.

"Finally! After all this time! I can rule the world as the head of Team Rocket!" he yelled. He fired two attacks at May and Misty. Drew and Ash reacted quicker, sending off counter attacks.

"Idiots!" Silver yelled. Paul's eyes widened as he saw Ash and Drew do this.

The attacks collided in the air, causing a huge smoke cloud to appear. I covered my eyes, relying on my ears to warn me of an attack. The only thing I felt was Paul grabbing onto my arm. I hung onto his hand like it was my lifeline. We waited. When the cloud disappeared May and Misty were stood in a defensive position.

Ash and Drew were no where to be seen.

"ASH!" Misty screamed. She fell to her knees, tears springing to her eyes. May did a similar thing.

"You idiot," she mumbled, "How could you be so stupid?"

Leo was laughing loudly. My eyes welled with tears as I saw May and Misty break down. I slowly turned to Leo. My eyes widened with shock. He had a gun in his hands. Where the Arceus had he gotten that from? I felt fear seize me as he squeezed the trigger.

The bang ricocheted off the walls. Raven jumped up. Leaf looked round. Lyra braced herself. May and Misty shot back to their feet. Silver turned his head. I blinked a few times as purple filled my vision.

Paul was stood in front of me. He paused for a second before he slumped forwards, grabbing his stomach with a groan. He'd taken the bullet that was meant for me.

"PAUL!" I half wailed, half screamed, "HYDRO CANON!"

The Hydro Canon was fast, strong and lethal for Leo as I shot it towards him. His smile disappeared shortly before it hit him. I glared as I watched him crumple to the ground. Lyra jumped up next, sending a fire attack to burn his body until it was nothing but ashes.

Paul was on the floor. Silver was beside him with the necklace Leaf had given Paul in his hands. Paul was laid on his side with his upper body twisted so that both his forearms were on the floor. He had his eyes closed and he was gritting his teeth. I rushed towards him, turning him onto his back. His head was resting on my legs. He grimaced as I did this but he opened his eyes so he could see me.

I looked down at the bullet wound. It was pouring with blood. Silver stood up quickly and walked away from us.

"Raven, get Leaf down," he ordered.

"Right," I heard Raven reply. I didn't care about anything else now. All I cared about was getting Paul some help.

"Troublesome girl," he muttered.

"I am," I agreed, smiling despite the horrible situation. Tears pricked at my eyes. Paul glanced at them.

"Don't cry," he told him, "You'll get my face wet."

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I can't help it. You're going to be fine. We'll get Leaf to take us to Arceus and then we'll get the boys back and then we'll save you. You'll be fine."

It was all so simple. I felt my heart race at the plan. It was perfect. I could save Paul and then we could get on with our lives. Everything would go back to normal and we could live happily. But then my heart froze as Paul spoke again.

"No… No I'm not," he said. I looked down at him. He seemed to be struggling for breath. I looked around for something. I placed him down gently before I crawled over to his wound and put pressure on it.

"D-don't say that," I told him, "I'm going to put pressure on this and you'll be fine."

"Dawn," he said.

"And then we'll go home. You'll go to hospital and Nurse Joy will fix you up. Or Arceus will heal you. You'll be fine," I blabbered.

"Dawn," Paul repeated.

"And I'll take you to meet my mum and dad. Your dad will be so happy to see mine again. Then we can all be one big happy family," I went on.

"Dawn," Paul said, a little louder.

"No!" I yelled back at him, "We're going to pick out rings in that Veilstone City Shop where the rings are so nice."

"No," Paul muttered, "Dawn… I can't…"

"Paul please," I wept, "Please don't say that."

"I'm sorry," he said. I took his hand in mind and squeezed it tightly. I wanted to tell him off, I wanted to tell him to pull his act together but I couldn't. I knew he was right. He was loosing far too much blood. There was no way to help him. He watched me carefully as I began to sob louder. "Dawn… I love you."

I looked up at him.

"I always will do," he said, "No matter where I am, I will always, always love you."

"And I'll always love you too," I said, "I mean it. I'll love you everyday and think of you everyday. You'll the only thing I'll dream about."

"Don't linger on me, Dawn," he said, "I want you to be happy."

"I'll be happy when I think of you," I replied. Paul smiled up at me. I slowly bent over him and kissed him. He kissed me back. I tasted something metallic in his mouth, blood in all possibility. I pulled away from him slowly, gazing down at him. He watched me a few seconds before he coughed loudly. The blood I tasted dribbled from the corner of his mouth. I pulled him into me, holding him close. He grabbed my hand. He coughed a few more times before he looked me in the eyes.

"You'd better… get out of here alive… Troublesome," he told me. I nodded. The tears were returning. There was something going off in the background but I couldn't make out what. Paul reached up and stroked my cheek.

"I love you," he muttered.

"I love you, too," I replied. He smiled before he let out a wheeze. His hand fell limply to his side and the rest of his body sagged.

He was gone.

I hugged him tightly as I began to cry loudly. I held him for what seemed like hours before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Dawn," it was Silver. His voice was calm and soft, "That's not going to do him much good."

"He's… dead," I spluttered. Silver's grip tightened on my shoulder for an instant before he let go of me. He crouched down beside me. I glanced at him. He looked sad and shocked.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. He cleared his throat. "We've sent Leaf to the past to make sure everything that should happen, happens."

"What will that do?" I asked. Silver looked at me. "It's already been done and it failed. We're trapped in this cycle forever. I loose Paul over and over again."

"Dawn," Silver said, "We need to defeat Rocket."

"I'm back," Leaf's voice came from behind us.

"Is everything set?" Misty asked.

"Yep," Leaf replied, "I put us in the same apartment, told Paul's dad to go and find Dawn's dad, put the files on Apollo's desk and everything."

"Great now we should got back to our time, right?" Lyra said.

"Yo, Paul!" May yelled, "Get up!"

My grip on him tightened as May put all the attention onto the both of us.

"May…" Raven said shakily. Everyone turned to her now. "Paul's not there anymore."

"What?" Leaf asked, "But he's Paul. He's like… He's like… He can't die!"

"But if Paul's dead then…" Misty trailed off.

"What about the other guys?" Lyra asked.

"They've gone forever," Raven replied, "And I don't think they're coming back."

"But Gary promised me he'd be waiting!" Leaf yelled, "He wouldn't lie to me."

I glanced up at Leaf with tears in my eyes. I knew that they were falling constantly but I tried to blink them away. I put Paul down on the floor and stood up.

"We've failed," Lyra said, "And we'll keep repeating all of this. We're in a never ending cycle."

"There's only one thing you can do," I told them, "We've failed. They found out this time around and now… And now we have to make a choice."

"Dawn, please," Misty said. Lyra and Raven looked at each other nervously before they looked at Silver. May folded her arms over her chest, tears tugging at her own eyes.

"We either take this thing back to the future," I said, "Or we explode the reactor and wipe out Rocket forever."

"Won't that change the world though?" Lyra asked. I glanced over at Paul's body then back at them. Everyone got the message. Slowly Raven nodded.

"We stay here," she stated, "And everything we ever knew ends."

"But that means that… we'll never see each other again," Leaf said, "And there's no way I'd ever get to meet you all if it wasn't for Rocket."

"But Gary and Drew and…" Misty choked out, "They'd be alive, right?"

"We wouldn't remember any of it either," May agreed, tears finally starting to fall. Leaf began to weep loudly as the others nodded. I walked forwards and hugged her. Slowly the May, Misty and Raven joined the hug. We were all crying loudly on each other. Silver and Lyra stood next to each other.

"This is how it was meant to end," Silver stated plainly, "Arceus said so himself. He did everything he could for us… This time."

"So this is how it ends?" May asked, "We get blown up and then what?"

"We start again," Lyra said brightly, "I'd have a family again."

"And we'd be home," Misty sobbed.

"But without each other," Leaf wept wildly.

"It's a small price to pay," Raven said, "If we get the guys back."

"So it's decided," I said. I looked over at Silver. He nodded.

"I can overload the computer," he stated. I smiled at him. He looked at Lyra. "I'll disappear before time resets itself."

"I know," Lyra replied sounding sad, "But I won't remember."

Silver nodded. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I wish I could have been more for you," he said. Lyra giggled, tears springing from her eyes.

"Thanks," she said, "That means a lot."

Lyra walked away from him and joined our group hug. She continued to watch Silver as he walked towards the reactor.

"Good luck everyone," he said, before shooting an attack at the machine. The machine made a weird noise and Silver faded out of existence. I grabbed the people round me tighter as the machine began to glow white. I closed my eyes.

"Thanks guys," I yelled, "It's been great."

"I love you guys!" Leaf screamed.

"We'll always be together," Misty wept.

"Friends forever," May agreed.

"Good bye," Lyra muttered.

"So long, have a good life," Raven said.

There was an explosion. I felt the fire rip through my body and the bright white light of beyond.

"Troublesome."

Something poked me. I hit it away. Whack. I opened my eyes. That sounded painful. I sat up and I saw the purple haired boy. He was holding his head like he was in pain. Blood was going everywhere.

"I'm so sorry," I yelped, "You scared me!"

"Ow that hurt," he snapped. He glared at me. He had dark coal eyes. I wanted to poke them out right now. I didn't. It was a nice thought. It would make a mess. He sat backwards. His legs were crossed. He had short purple hair. It was weird because the bottom of his hair was short and spiky but the top bit was longer and went to his ears. I kneeled in front of him.

"Sorry," I repeated. I felt bad for hitting him. I leant into him. I checked his head. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small white handkerchief. "Hold still."

I dabbed it with the cotton square. I listened to him hiss at me. He was watching me very carefully. He was waiting for me to hurt him some more.

"Your hair is a mess," he stated. I looked at him.

"Is it?" I asked. He nodded. I giggled. "Oh well."

"You're not going to freak out? Like you usually do?" he asked. I shook my head.

"For some reason I don't care anymore," I replied. I didn't. I cared more about looking after him. My hair wasn't important. He looked at me.

"What were you dreaming about?" he asked.

"I was on this most awesome adventure ever," I told him excitedly, "I was a legendary Pokémon Princess and I had to save the world from a bad, bad man."

"Sounds lame," he said. He looked sort of bored.

"It was sad too," I told him, "You were in it. You died."

"You kill me in your dreams too?" he asked. I poked his ribs roughly. He fell backwards. He laughed at me! I couldn't believe it. He sat back up. He was smiling. "You cared I died?"

"Of course," I said, "I mean… we're friends right?"

"Weird friends," he said. I nodded. We both laughed then. "My head doesn't hurt any more."

"Sorry for hitting you," I said I bowed my head.

"It's nothing," he told me as he got to his feet. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and some black shorts and trainers. I smiled up at him. I got to my feet. I brushed off my pink dress and smiled at him. "Let's go home."

"OK," I replied. We walked all the way back to the house. It was a very long way away. It took us a whole five minutes to walk there. He walked by my side. He was smiling. Suddenly he took my hand. I smiled at him.

"I'm really glad you're here," he told me. I nodded.

"Me too," I replied.

Mummy opened the door and looked down at us and smiled.

"What are you two doing?" she asked. His mummy walked up to us. She was smiling too.

"Isn't that adorable?" his mummy said, "They're holding hands!"

"There's hope for the future yet," my mummy laughed. The two mummies laughed. He looked at me. I looked at him. I had no idea what they were laughing about.

Daddy came into the room. He was looking really surprised at something.

"Team Rocket have gone," he said. My mummy looked at his mummy.

"Gone?" my mummy asked.

"Gone where?" his mummy asked.

"Their facility blew up on Mount Moon," my daddy replied, "All the Elites are gone. Giovanni, Pegasus, Leo. Gone."

"Oh thank Arceus," my mummy said. Mummy ran up to daddy and hugged him and kissed him. I looked at the boy beside me. He shrugged. His daddy ran into the room and hugged his mummy. His brother walked into the room too. He looked confused. We were too.

"Today is the beginning of a new life," his daddy was saying, "No more Rocket, no more fear. We can live our lives again!"

"Oh thank Arceus!" he mummy yelled. My daddy ran over to me and picked me up and twirled me round.

"Daddy!" I yelled. He span me round and round and round. I was very dizzy now. He put me down and I fell into the boy. He grumbled at me.

"Parents are weird," he said. His brother nodded.

"Our parents are the weirdest," he agreed.

"I love my mummy and daddy," I said, "They're funny."

"The bad guys are gone," the brother said. I thought about his name. It was Reggie.

"That's great!" I yelled.

"We won't have to fear them ever again," my mummy said. She picked me up.

"Fear who mummy?" I asked.

"Team Rocket," daddy told me. I looked at Reggie and the boy. I was confused. Who were Team Rocket? They mustn't be very important to me because I would know who they were if they were.

**Soooo…. Am I going to be killed or not? *looks around for a suitable hiding place* I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you don't hate me either. So one more chapter to go. Hope you stay tuned!**

**RSx**


	27. Of Epilogues and Preludes

**So here it is… The last update of Rocket Academy. I feel so proud it made it this far but so sad at the same time. **

**I am so sorry for those people who I made cry in the last chapter. I have to admit that when I was writing it, my mum had to come and check on me because I was blubbering so much. Hehe. On another note, the whole story isn't a dream as this chapter shows. It would appear as a dream to a six year old though since I doubt they would understand time travel… Ish…**

**Anyway, thanks to: xXCanaryXx, Douze, RAWR the Green Ranger, BrightEmeraldRose, Foxgrl18, KuraiDawn, splitheart1120, zflame393, blazingkyoshadowingyuki, LeafxGreenx3, dattebayo4321, rin916, lightwolfheart, Storm Dryu, RaveOn21now22, LuckyTigger and Lynx of the Sand. Thanks for all the kind words you have said to me over the past few chapters. It has been really appreciated :D**

**Discalimer: I don't own Pokémon :(**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Of Epilogues and Preludes**

Ten years pass so quickly, I thought as I walked down the busy Veilstone City high street. Ten years. I had won three Grand Festivals and five Hearthome Collections. I loved my life. I was famous and happy. My back did hurt a little, though. I put the bags I was carrying on the floor so I could rest a little.

I was seventeen. My name is Dawn Shinji and I am really happy with my life. I married a guy called Paul Shinji when I was sixteen and now we were expecting our first child very soon. To be honest with you, and don't tell my parents, Paul and I knew about the baby before we got married. We decided to get married quickly rather than wait until we were eighteen because of that. A teen pregnancy, we never saw that coming but then again who would? Never-the-less, I was happy with my life but there was still something missing deep inside of me.

"I thought I told you to wait for me." I glanced up and noticed that I had managed to stop right outside the Veilstone City Gym, where my husband worked. I sweat-dropped as he picked up the heavy bags.

"I wanted to get stuff done so I could just relax later with you," I told him.

"Fine, whatever," Paul replied, rolling his eyes. He pointed at my rather large stomach. "But remember, you're carrying another with you now."

"I do," I snapped, "You're not the one getting kicked all the time are you?"

"I don't know," Paul said with a smirk, "When you're in a mood."

"Jerk," I slapped him on the shoulder. He chuckled lightly at me. We began walking back to the house we owned. It was pretty near the gym but as we got closer to the house someone called Paul back.

"Paul Shinji?"

We turned round to see two people chasing us. One was a guy with spiky brown hair. He was wearing a purple polo shirt and brown cargo pants. I eyed him carefully. He looked like a trainer. I'm sure I'd seen him before. The other person was a girl with long brown hair and greeny-blue eyes. She smiled at me as she stopped running.

"Sorry," the guy panted, "We missed you at the gym. I'm Gary Oak."

"And I'm Leaf Green," the girl said.

"We're working for Professor Oak in the Kanto region," Gary explained, "We were hoping you might be able to help us."

"Sure," Paul said with a shrug, "Come with us, we're just going home."

I looked at Leaf as she looked at me. My smile vanished instantly. Hers did too as she stared at me.

"Dawn? Is something wrong?" Paul asked. I looked at him and shook my head.

"No, I just got a weird sense of de-ja-vu," I replied. We stood in silence for a while just looking at each other. Why did I get the feeling we all felt the same way? Leaf laughed it off.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Leaf said, "It's like I know you two from somewhere but I swear we've never met."

"That is strange," Paul agreed.

"Hey, that's the only reason I started dating her," Gary said, pointing to Leaf, "We walked into each other one day and bam, I felt as if I could never leave her."

"I think we knew each other in a past life," Leaf giggled. Paul and I looked at each other smiling.

"So what's this research about?" Paul asked Gary as we began walking towards the house.

"It's about the Legendary Pokémon in Johto, actually," Gary explained, "But there have been reports of Suicune in this area. So I was wondering that, since you're the local gym leader, you could help me a little with my research. Legendaries come to trainers they see as worthy and you're strong, right?"

"I'll help anyway I can," Paul replied, "It sounds interesting, but I can't really do too much work."

Paul pointed at me, or rather, my stomach. Gary let out a whistle as Leaf giggled.

"Huge commitment there," Gary remarked.

"I don't know," Paul said with a shrug, "Sometimes I feel like our lives were leading to this."

"No kidding," Gary said. I turned to Leaf to find she was watching me with a smile on her face. We chuckled at each other in a friendly sort of way.

Our attention slipped as Gary walked into someone. We stopped walking to find Gary had totally walked into a girl with brown hair. She had a huge white hat on her head with her pig tails poking beneath it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said to Gary, "You're not hurt are you?"

"Not at all," Gary replied.

"Lyra," another girl yelled running onto the scene. This girl had sea green hair. She was laughing wildly. "You idiot."

Two more people ran towards us. Two boys. One with red hair and the other had black hair.

"Can't you go two minutes without causing trouble?" the red head asked, smirking. Lyra ignored him as she dusted herself off.

"Brother, don't annoy her please," the green haired girl said.

"Fine, Raven," the red head said, "I won't. For now."

"You're a jerk, Silver," Lyra snapped, "And Ascot's not much better."

"Hey, don't get me involved with this," said the remaining guy that must have been called Ascot. They looked round at us as we looked at them. The girl named Raven titled her head to the side with an expression of extreme confusion on her face.

"Do we… know you?" she asked.

"Wow," Leaf commented, "There's a lot of that going round today."

"No kidding," Paul agreed. Silver and Paul looked at each other.

"Silver," Silver greeted with a hand shake, "Who's your girlfriend?"

"Paul. I'm married to Dawn," Paul replied, "I've only just met him."

"Hey… did you just call me a girl?" Gary asked. We chuckled before stopping oddly. None of us spoke for the next few minutes until a red bandana was blown onto the floor between us.

"Grab that bandana!" someone called. Paul automatically grabbed it. Another group of four were running towards us. This time it was a brunette girl and an orange haired girl with a dopey looking black head and a guy with weird grass hair.

"Thanks," the brunette said as she stopped in front of Paul. Paul handed her the bandana.

"It's no problem," Paul replied.

"I'm May," the girl introduced. The boy with black hair pushed to the front of the group, looking at Leaf and Gary like he knew them

"Hey, Gary, Leaf," the black head said. "How are you doing?"

"Ashy-boy," Gary said, smirking in a friendly way, "Fancy seeing you here. And Misty too."

"Ash wanted to challenge the Veilstone Gym Leader but he's gone home for the day," the orange haired girl named Misty explained.

"Still trying to become the Pokémon Master, eh?" Gary asked.

"Sure am," Ash nodded, "We met Drew and May in Hoenn. Actually it's a pretty weird story."

"Yeah," Drew said, putting his hands behind his head, "We met by accident and then it was like have we met before or something?"

We all nodded slowly.

"Well… This is awkward," Paul mumbled. He rolled his eyes. "Come on Dawn. Let's get you home."

"Sounds good," I agreed. Paul looked at Ash.

"If you want to challenge me then you'll have to wait until tomorrow," Paul explained.

"You're the gym leader?" Ash asked.

"That's right, genius," Paul replied, "If you want bring Carrot-Top, Bandana and Grasshead to watch your defeat."

"Again with a grasshead," Drew said, "I've known him two minutes and he's calling me a grasshead."

"If you're so self conscious about it, why don't you dye your hair?" May asked.

"At least you're not a white haired freak like that Brendan guy," Misty said.

"You do know that's just a hat right, Mist?" Ash told her. She slapped him on the shoulder.

"Well," Silver said looking at his watch, "We should get going now. Let's see how many people Lyra can take out in the next ten minutes shall we?"

"Jerk," Lyra snapped. The two of them walked off squabbling like three year olds.

"Good bye," Ascot said with a wave. Raven stayed behind looking between me, my stomach and Paul. She looked genuinely confused. She eventually turned away.

"Why do I have the incredible feeling that I was right about something?" she asked.

"Beats me," Ascot replied.

"Do you need help with your shopping?" Drew asked Paul. Paul handed Drew a bag of stuff. "Man that's heavy."

"You get used to it," Paul replied.

I fell into step with the three girls while the guys walked ahead. It was weird as I walked beside them, three strangers I had only just met but I felt like I knew them all so well. As the thoughts bubbled in my head about these three strangers and their partners I couldn't help but feel like that empty feeling inside of me had been filled. May and Misty were chatting away to Leaf about their travels. I smiled at them. Up head of me Gary and Drew were arguing about something and Ash didn't have a clue what was going on. I could see Paul growing more and more annoyed with each passing second until he snapped.

"You're a bunch of girls really, aren't you?" he said. Well that sparked an argument. We girls giggled.

"Say Dawn," Leaf said suddenly, "Do you have this crazy feeling that we know each other?"

"Maybe in a past life, Leaf," I said, "Maybe we did."

"That's such a weird thought," May commented.

I happened to glance behind me at Mount Coronet. I stopped walking but the girls continued. The sun was setting yet I made out a shadow of a most peculiar creature. It was blue with a purple mane. It looked like it had an Emerald crown in its head. Slowly it bowed its head to me before it ran up the side of the mountain.

Slowly a smile grew on my face. I turned round and walked along the path to catch up with the girls and the guys. Somewhere deep in the back of my mind I felt glad that it had all worked out for the better.

**THE END **

**That needed the 'the end' thing at the end of it. I hope the ending wasn't too cliché for you but now you understand that I had to wrap it up somewhere :) **

**So like I said, I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. Thanks for all your support and kind words :) **

**Hehe… Erm… I have already stated on my blog that there… erm… will be a sequel to Rocket Academy coming in June sometime, once I have got everything I need to do out of the way, but that will have to be a once a week update. Sorry.**

**I look forwards to hearing from you then!**

**Please review :)**

**RSx**


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